Eyes of the Anarchist
by DrSykk
Summary: It's 2015, Mabel and Dipper are ready for another summer in Gravity Falls. When they accidentally come across a book of spells, Wendy and her mysterious mentor are forced to come clean about their abilities. But some secrets are better left hidden, as Gravity Falls soon finds itself in the middle of a war between gods. Rated T for Language
1. A New Adventure Begins

**December 2012**

"Ugh! I hate the cold!"

"Quit complaining. You're the one who volunteered to come here." The women got out of the car, and took in the snow covered town. It appeared to be mostly abandoned, save for the occasional townsperson going about their day.

"Not even the locals are willing to brave the snow," Grace observed. "And here I thought the west coast was supposed to be sunny."

"Damn it, Grace! Would you please shut up?" said Beth, scolding her younger colleague. "The sooner we investigate… whatever it is we are supposed to look into, the sooner we can leave. Get Aris. He's talking to himself again."

Opening the rear door, Grace saw her pale friend was lost in a trance. Snapping at him and shaking him did nothing.

 _Do you feel that?_

 _ **Yes. Something happened here. Something is interfering.**_

 _Hmm. What could cause a fracture like this?_

 _ **If we find out, we could build a way home.**_

"Hey, Albino boy!"

"Hu?" Aris woke from his daze to find himself lying in the snow. "Sorry. I got lost in thought."

"Sure. When you are done talking to the brain worm, I would like to get on with the job," said Grace, offering him a hand.

 _ **Why did we bring her again?**_

 _She's smart and reliable. That should be enough for the brain worm._

 _ **Don't call me that.**_

Brushing off the snow, Aris turned to his coworkers. "We will split up and ask the locals about anything unusual happening here. We detected the anomalies four months ago, so the more recent the better. With that said, all information could be important. If it's not related to small town gossip, write it down."

"One question, sir," said Beth. "Is there any particular reason we are here now? Why didn't we investigate the anomalies when they appeared?"

"That's two questions," giggled Grace, earning her a light smack from the older woman.

"You know how the Board is about these kinds of things, Beth," Aris sighed. "Plus, the government was rumored to be involved at the time, and that always makes Huffman squeamish."

"Were they?"

"I found no evidence to suggest they were. It was just paranoia. Now, let's get moving. I don't want to waste what little time we do have."

* * *

 _I swear, if I hear_ 'Never mind all that' _one more time…_

 _ **They are afraid of something.**_

 _I noticed, and now we've wasted an entire day. I doubt anyone will give us the time of day if we try again tomorrow._

 _ **There are always the tiny men with pointed hats.**_

 _I am NOT going gnome hunting!_

 _ **It's our only lead!**_

Aris sighed and took another sip of his hot chocolate. The three of them had come across the diner after a long day of fruitless interviews. Seeing as none of them had lunch, it was unanimously decided that an early dinner was in order. Nibbling on a fry, Aris took a quick glance at the booth Beth and Grace were sitting at. They were chatting and smiling like normal coworkers. He looked forward again, content with his lonely barstool and the voice in his head.

"Hey there, Handsome!"

Aris looked up to the grey hair waitress giving him a sweet smile. "Handsome? No one has called me that in a long time."

"That's a damn shame. The young ladies don't know what they are missing out on." She poured him a second hot chocolate and added whipped cream. "On the house."

Aris started at the mug, his eyes drawn to the whipped cream. He can only assume the waitress was referring to his snow white skin and hair that was only a few shades darker than the cream. Along with his glowing emerald eyes, Aris stood out in any crowd. He had long since learned to ignore any staring, but sometimes a person would draw attention to the fact, making him self-conscious. Like that group of teens he just noticed staring at him.

 _Gee, thanks Grandma._

 _ **You know she meant well.**_

 _Intentions don't mean much if you don't reach the desired outcome._

Aris ate another fry as he pulled his black hood lower on his face. He would pull up a second hood if his coat had one. He just wanted to eat his meal and get out. He focused on his food so intently; he didn't notice someone approaching him.

"Hey, dude."

"What?" Aris sighed, without looking up.

"I heard that you were…" she stopped, getting uncomfortably close to his ear, "a paranormal researcher."

Aris's eyebrows shot up. Turning to the girl, he saw it was one of the teens that were staring. The one with long, red hair and a baseball cap. "That's not entirely accurate, but I would be glad to hear what you have to share."

The girl took a glance around the diner. "Not here. Follow me." Aris did as he was told, being sure to tell Beth and Grace to watch his food.

The redhead didn't stop till they were a full kilometer down the road from the diner. Whatever this was about, it was either dangerous information, or Aris was about to get mugged. Jokes on them if it was the latter.

She turned to face him. "You're right," she said.

"Right about what?"

"Gravity Falls isn't normal. A lot of weird shit lives in these woods, and for whatever reason, none of it can leave."

"And what about everyone else? I've been dismissed all day."

"You can't blame them. They're scared. Something… bad happened in August. Most people are trying to forget."

 _ **The last anomaly was in August.**_

 _Maybe it's related._

Aris was quiet. He almost looked to be hypnotized. The girl was about to ask if he was okay, when his head shot up. Aris walked closer, intimidating the girl a little.

"What's your name?"

"Wendy Corduroy," she responded proudly, trying to intimidate him back. He almost found it cute.

"Can you prove any of this, Wendy?"

"All of it." A brief silence began to creep in.

"Why are you telling me this?" Aris asked.

"I… I kinda got into this weird stuff over the summer. But then it just ended… I miss it." Wendy looked away. Aris couldn't tell if it was from embarrassment or sadness or both. Perhaps they could help each other.

"It's okay to be a freak, kid. I should know." Aris held out his hand and a small green flame appeared in his palm. Wendy looked on in awe.

"How did you do that!?" she asked, temped to touch the flame.

"Oh, I know lots of tricks. And by the sounds of it, you know a lot about Gravity Falls."

This caught Wendy's attention, causing her to look at the man with skepticism. "What are you getting at?"

He offered his hand to her as it was engulfed by the green flame. With a fanged smile, he asked her, "Miss Corduroy, how would you like to help me change the world?"

* * *

 **June 2015**

"The Mystery Twins are back, baby!"

"Another summer of adventure awaits!"

The 15-year-old twins cheered as they hopped off the bus. Mabel and Dipper had just finished their sophomore year of high school, and were more than ready to begin their forth summer in Gravity Falls.

Soos and Melody were waiting for them at the bus stop with grins on their faces. "How's is been, dudes?" Soos said, giving the twins a bear hug. "Man, you guys have gotten tall. Looks like you're falling behind, Dipper". The twins had grown over the past year, as both of them were only half a head shorter than Soos. But puberty had hit Mabel a little harder, giving her an extra inch on her brother.

"Did you honestly expect anything less from the alpha twin?" she boasted, drawing a sigh out of Dipper.

"Mabel, please don't start that again."

"ALPHA TWIN! ALPHA TWIN!"

Soon, they had begun another one of their sibling squabbles. Melody giggled as she surprised them with a hug of her own. "That's enough you two. You can fight later." The twins laughed and returned the hug.

"So, Melody… is it true?" Mabel asked, trying to hide her excitement.

"Is what true?"

"Did Soos ask you to marry him?"

"Of course he did, silly," said Melody as she held out her hand, showing off a silver engagement ring. Embedded on top was a navy-blue gem of impressive size.

"OHMYGAWD! OHMYGAWD! OHMYGAWD!" Mabel grabbed Melody's hand and gazed longingly into the gem. "It's beautiful," she said. As Mabel continued to stare at the ring, Dipper couldn't help but wonder about the size.

"Soos, how did you afford such a large diamond?"

"Funny you should ask," Soos said. "I didn't buy it. I got it from the gnomes."

"Yuck," Mabel said, letting go of Melody's hand and turning away. "Who in their right mind would work with the gnomes?"

"Dude"

"I said right mind, Soos"

"Alright, guys," Melody said. "We need to get back to the Mystery Shack. Soos can tell you all about it on the way there."

* * *

"Wait, what?" Dipper had an expression somewhere between shock and confusion as he met Soos' eyes in the rear-view mirror. "You ACTUALLY found someone crazy enough to marry the gnomes?"

"Yep. And it only took seven weeks of searching the weirdest blogs and message boards I could find," Soos said.

Mabel shared a glance with Dipper. "Is it normal to feel sorry for someone, but also be terrified by the very thought of their existence?" she asked.

"Don't worry sister. I feel the same".

"Oh, stop it you two", Melody scolded. "She's a really nice lady. She just occasionally shows up at the shack wearing a gnome hat and… demanding the customers to… bow down to… her." As she trailed of, Melody was forced to look away from the deadpan twins' gaze.

"Honey, the twins have a point," Soos said. "I had to ban her from visiting during business hours so she would stop scaring people off before they bought tickets. Looking back, I probably should have just saved up and bought a ring".

"Well, it's too late for that. Not that I'm complaining. This ring could make a Northwest jealous".

Dipper gazed once more at the gem as Melody held it up. "That thing doesn't have magical properties, right? I would like to avoid any and all death curses this year".

"Nah, dude. It's all good," Soos reassured him. "The gnomes did mention something about a protection spell, but we haven't run into any danger to test it with yet."

"And I plan on keeping it that way," Melody said.

"Have you guys decided on a wedding date?" Mabel asked, bouncing in her seat. She stopped when Dipper elbowed her in the side.

"Quit it. You're shaking the car."

Melody ignored their quarrel, happy to daydream about the big day. "We haven't decided on an exact date, yet," she said. "Sometime this summer, before the baby starts showing".

Dipper and Mabel went slack jawed. "Baby?!"

"Melody, you spoiled the surprise".

The woman looked away from Soos, embarrassment showing on her face. "Sorry, hon".

Mabel resumed her bouncing, barely containing the scream building inside. "Is it true? How far long are you? Was it romantic or spontaneous? Tell me EVERYTHING!"

"Mabel!" Dipper yelled at his sister. "Could you be anymore inappropriate? I doubt Soos and Melody want to tell us about their love life".

Mabel's questions had caused the young couple to blush. Melody was lightly pulling at her ponytail while Soos maintained a blank stare, trying to focus on driving. He eventually cleared his throat, causing the teens to quiet down.

"If you dudes must know, it happened on April 18th. So, ya, we got awhile," Soos said with a strained voice.

Mabel grew a look of skepticism at his response. "April 18th? That's oddly specific," she said, throwing a look to her brother. Dipper caught on, taking off his red baseball cap to scratch at his scalp.

"Hey, didn't Dragonborn 2 come out that weekend?" he inquired.

"I love that game," Mabel said. "Remember when we took, like, eighteen tries to kill the first boss because we both played rogue. You even hacked the AI files to figure out the best strat- ". Mabel gasped at the sudden realization of what Dipper was hinting at. "Oh my god! You guys are total nerd lovers! That's so cute!"

"Mabel! Seriously, I'm going to need hearing aids before graduation."

Melody was starting to pull at her hair harder, her embarrassment beginning to mix with a tinge of annoyance. "Did you have to give them the exact day?"

"They would have figured it out eventually," Soos sighed. Checking his watch, Soos decided to push down a little harder on the throttle. The sooner they got back to the Mystery Shack, the sooner they could decide on what to do for dinner. And the sooner they could put an end to the antsy twins' bickering. "You don't have any twins or anything in your family, right".

Melody stole a quick glance at the backseat before turning her eyes to the road. "Nope".

"Gracias al cielo".

Eventually, Dipper and Mabel stopped talking, opting to relax due to travel fatigue. The remaining drive to the Shack was uneventful. Dipper watched the trees go by, smiling when they saw the sign that said _Welcome to Gravity Falls_.

* * *

 **Thought I would take another crack at this story in my head. If you read my first rendition, then you might recognize a few bits. After this, is will be all new. All thoughts, comments, and criticisms are welcomed.**


	2. An Awkward Meeting

The Pines twins hopped out of the truck and enjoyed a good stretch. Dipper was content to feel his tendons loosing, but Mabel started doing jumping jacks as to sate her desire for movement. The eight hour bus ride from Piedmont had not done her any favors. Being in the open air, able to run around at will made her mind feel clear again.

Together, the two teens gazed at the old Mystery Shack. It looked much better than when they first saw it three years ago. Working with Wendy and Manly Dan, Soos had made some major renovations to the building. The Shack still looked old, but it also appeared structurally sound like a respectable business. Grabbing their bags, Dipper and Mabel followed Soos and Melody inside.

"Hey, Wendy! You still here?" Soos shouted out.

"In the kitchen!"

The four of them found Wendy gathering papers that were scattered across the table. She appeared to be examining some sort of mechanical sketch, making notes and small calculations. Her critical eye grew a new brightness when she spotted Mabel and Dipper.

"If it isn't the Mystery Twins. It's good to see you guys." She opened her arms for a hug, which the siblings reciprocated. "How has life been treating my two favorite Californians?"

"It's been just grand," said Mabel, "except high school. That's always a drag."

"School was fine. She's just mad she couldn't convince any older boys to take her to prom," interjected Dipper.

"It's not my fault the juniors were too dumb to notice my natural charm!"

"Ya, because glitter bombs are the pentacle of charming. She got detention _**twice**_ for those things."

At this point Mabel had turned a bright red and was about to strangle her brother, but Wendy's laughter caught her attention. "Oh man. Seriously?" she asked. Mabel could only nod. "That's fucking awesome! Those guys don't know what they are missing!" Wendy's laugh proved contagious, as both twins starting laughing with her. "Don't sweat it Mabel. You'll have plenty of chances to go to those silly dan-Ow! What giv- oh."

Turning around, Wendy was face-to-face with an angry Abuelita holding her cane up. "You watch your tongue, senorita. I'll have none of your foul language in this house."

"Sorry, Abuelita."

"Good. Now clean up your fancy drawing while the twins go unpack."

* * *

Dipper was able unpack all of his belongs fairly quickly, as he had made sure to pack his suitcases as neatly as humanly possible. He had all his clothes sorted into their proper drawers and belongs on the correct shelves in a matter of minutes. Tuning around, he saw his sister was only half way through getting her underwear put away. Mabel didn't take nearly as much care in her organization, but at least it wasn't as bad as their first summer visit.

"Need some help?" Dipper asked. Mabel didn't respond. "Hey, you okay?" Still nothing. "Come on Mabs, you can't ignore me all summer."

"The first thing you decide to tell Wendy after arriving IS THE GLITTLER BOMB INCIDENT?!" Mabel yelled, shooting up to glare at her brother.

"What? It's a funny story, and she even said you were awesome for it."

"It was embarrassing! AND it was my story to tell. Why don't I go downstairs and tell her about how Jesse dumped you twice in the last year?"

Dipper's eyes went wide before looking away. His mind was suddenly flooded with thoughts of his ex-girlfriend. His look of shame was soon mirrored by Mabel as she realized the line she crossed. "Sorry. I shouldn't have brought that up", she said.

"No. You're right." With a sigh, Dipper plopped back on his bed. He soon felt the springs shift from Mabel joining him. "Sorry about embarrassing you in front of Wendy." He said.

"It's fine. She was going to find out one way or another. Just wish you could have waited beyond the first five minutes," Mabel joked, gently elbowing Dipper.

"I'll be sure to remember that."

A soft silence fell over the twins. They were both content to lie on the lumpy bed and stare at the ceiling. The Mystery Shack's roof had been repaired the pervious spring, and the attic along with it. Where mold spores once lived, there were now new wood beams with a light stain finish. Dipper didn't pay them much attention, thinking more about what new discoveries he would come across over the summer. Mabel however, followed the grain with intensity. It reminded her of a river, as if nature had drawn waves for humans to decorate with.

Rivers were weird. Always flowing in the same direction, from one horizon to the other. Sorta like how time worked. It always flowed forward, carrying humanity along with it. Sure, with the right knowhow, a person could swim to shore, and then run to any point on the river they liked. But they couldn't run forever. At some point, you had to swim back to the boat that you came from and continue down the endless stream. But what if you got stuck? Like on a rock, or in a whirlpool? One that looked like that black spot on the ceiling?

Mabel's eyes stayed transfixed on the single, dark circle where the wood grain converged.

"Dipper?"

"Yea?"

"Are we messed up?"

This gave Dipper pause. "What do you mean?"

"We've been coming to Gravity Falls for a while. Every time we see amazing things and it's a lot of fun."

Dipper was only growing more confused. "Come on, Mabel. Where are you going with this?" he asked, propping himself up on his elbows.

"What about all the dangerous stuff? We've have run-ins with goblins, and demons, and what about that time we met Mistress Death? We met the literal incarnation of death, Dipper!" By this point, Mabel was sitting upright and shaking her brother by the shoulders.

"Whoa! Whoa! Calm down! What has gotten into you?" Dipper said, ripping her arms away to prevent whiplash.

"Sorry, Bro-bro. I'm just worried. About us. We haven't really been ourselves lately."

"Ya, Mabel. It's called being a grumpy teenager. We don't have PTSD."

"You sure?"

"Yes. I'm sure. What brought this on anyways?"

Mabel thought for a second before pointing up at the ceiling. "I don't know. I was just following the wood grain, and the black spot caught my eye." She stared at it for another second, and then got distracted by Dipper's laughing. "What's so funny?"

"You nearly went into a panic, because of a spot on the ceiling!"

"No need to laugh about it," Mabel pouted.

"Tell you what. Let's get some food and some sleep. If you are still feeling all doom and gloom in the morning, we can talk about it. Deal?"

"Deal."

With a small smile, Mabel gave Dipper a hug, which they sealed with the traditional _pat pat_. They finished putting up Mabel's things, to which Dipper insisted that he helped, and went downstairs.

* * *

For dinner, it was decided that everyone would go to Greasy's Diner, so Mabel and Dipper could get a proper reintroduction to Gravity Falls cuisine. Soos was insistent on fitting all six people into his truck, but it soon became clear that wasn't going to work. Wendy decided to drive over herself, with Mabel on shotgun and Dipper in the back, so she could go straight home afterwards.

"So, Dipper. What's the story behind the new hat?" Wendy asked.

"Oh, right. Yours got too small for me," he said. "I bought this one at comic convention." Dipper pulled off the red baseball cap with the Marvel logo on the front. "I understand if you think it's too nerdy to wear. I got yours with my stuff at the Shack, if you want it back."

"You kidding, dude? Those movies are awesome." Without looking away from the road, Wendy took off the blue pine tree hat and tossed it over her shoulder. "Give yours to Mabel. I'll put it on at the diner."

Mabel let at out an 'aww" at her car companions. "Look at you two, being all BFF and trading hats."

Her brother was not amused. "Don't make this weird."

The diner was busier than expected. Apparently someone hit a telephone pole near the movie theater, knocking out power to half the main town. Anyone unlucky enough to live in the affected area was forced to either grill out or go out for dinner. With only one booth big enough for six adults and zero empty barstools, they were forced to wait outside till a spot opened up. Soos, Dipper, and Wendy began talking about Mystery Shack business while Mabel sat down on the giant stump with Melody and Abuelita. Mabel immediately popped open the messenger bag she brought and pulled out paper and pencils for the three of them.

"I never thought I would see you with a black book bag," noted Melody.

"Don't worry," said Mabel, "I have the full intent to bedazzle it pink and green."

The waiting continued for a few minutes, when Dipper noticed how distracted Wendy was getting. "You okay?" he asked.

"Hu? Oh, yea, I'm fine," she said. "It's just… that motorcycle seems familiar."

Soos looked over at the blue sports bike. "You don't think it belongs to your mysterious albino friend, do you?"

This caused Dipper to let out a sarcastic laugh. "Oh, you mean the one Wendy will mention, but _NEVER_ tell us anything about," he jabbed.

"Dudes," Wendy signed. "I told you, my mentor is a private man, and I'm sworn to secrecy on most things."

"Sure," said Dipper, "whatever you say." He was clearly hurt from being left out of the loop. It felt the same when he found out Grunkle Stan was hiding the journals and an interdimensional portal from him during his first summer in Gravity Falls. This was worse, because he was fully aware of the secrets and it was one of his closest friends hiding them. Over the past two years, he had spent two summers and a winter break in Gravity Falls. In that time he had only managed a single small glimpse of the man when he followed Wendy to one their meetings. He would have seen more, except the man had "sensed him", as Wendy put it, and ran off. Most of what Dipper knew was second hand from the few times Soos and Melody had run into the man. All he could say for sure is that the mentor had snow white skin and that he worked, and possibly lived, at the super secure research facility on the edge of town.

An awkward silence fell over the three friends. Fortunately it was short lived.

Pacifica stepped out of the dinner, dressed in her dirty apron uniform. "Hey guys. We got a table open for you."

"Oh, sweet!" shouted Mabel. "Thanks, Paz! We'll be right there!" She quickly stuffed her things back into her messenger bag and ran towards the door. In her excitement for coffee omelets, she failed to notice a man leaving the diner and ran straight into him. With a yelp, she knocked them both off the front steps.

The pale man groaned and gave Mabel a venomous glare. "Watch where you're going, kid."

"Well, well, well," laughed Wendy. "Speak of the devil, and he doth appear."

"Oh, hardy har har. Very funny, Red." The man picked up his messenger bag and helmet and started walking away. But Wendy stopped him.

"Hey! Get back here," she said grabbing his arm. "Friends. This is Aris Rogers, head of Rhaegal Tech's Gravity Falls division, and my mentor."

Now forced to engage, Aris gave a pitiful wave. "Hi". The awkward hello was returned by everyone except Mabel, who was still lying on the ground.

"I thing I broke something," she said, holding up a limp wrist. Melody instantly knelt down to check the damage, but Aris beat her to it. Bending over, he grabbed Mabel's wrist and pulled her up by it. "Hey! Be careful! Oh…" She flexed her hand a few times. "It doesn't hurt anymore. How did you do that?" Soos, Melody, Dipper, and Mabel all looked back between the wrist and Aris expecting an answer.

"You're welcome," he deadpanned and began walking off. Wendy stopped him again.

"He knows magic," she said. The reaction was immediate.

 _ **"CORDUROY!"**_ yelled Aris, his voice taking on a demonic, double tone.

"Geez. Calm down, dudes. They would have figured it out with that little display." The man just signed and shook his head. "Side note, we need to talk."

Aris gave Wendy a look, then looked at her four friends. They were all staring at him with frightful eyes, shocked by his sudden change in voice and Wendy's nonchalant demeanor. "Your grandma went inside. You should probably follow her." They all nodded in agreement, getting the message to let him and Wendy talk privately. Soos and Melody dashed though the door first, followed by Mabel after she grabbed her own messenger bag.

Dipper, however, didn't want to lose this chance. He began to follow his sister. But as soon as the two turned their backs, he dashed behind a large bush.

"You've been avoiding me," said Wendy.

"I've been busy. We just finished the building Gateway. Now, we move on to the testing phase. "

"That you don't need to be there for."

Aris let out a loud sigh. "No. For most of the test, my presence won't be necessary."

"So…" Wendy trailed off, clearly expecting him to finish.

"Did you finish the sketches?"

"Yep. They are back at the Shack."

"Fine. We can resume magic lessons till I leave," he relented, causing Wendy to let out a loud cheer. "BUT, my supervision rule still applies. I don't want you blowing your arm off again."

"Yes. I get it. Hey, while we're on the subject… Think you could teach Ma-"

"No," Aris interrupted.

"Come on, Aris! These are my friends. They got me into this stuff to begin with."

"We've been over this, Wendy."

"They weren't part of the deal," she said with a disappointed tone. "I know."

"Good. I'll call you in the morning. Oh, _**and little boy…"**_ Aris's voice took on the double tone again. Dipper's heart stopped. He should have known better than to eavesdrop. He stepped out from behind the bush.

"Dipper?!" Wendy shouted.

 _ **"That's strike two."**_

* * *

Dinner was slightly awkward between the two friends thanks to Dipper's intrusion. They hid it from the adults well enough, but Mabel easily caught on. It was clear that Wendy was frustrated at her twin, and she intended to interrogate him on it back at the Shack.

Everyone ordered their meals, Soos and Melody sharing a platter, as they had recently started a diet. Pacifica was working and Robbie was called in to help with the sudden rush. They both said hello to the group, but they weren't able to talk much on the clock. Pacifica did agree to stop by the Mystery Shack the next day, and even said she would drag Candy and Grenda along with her so the girls could catch up. All-in-all, it was an enjoyable meal for Mabel, if slightly hectic.

"Be right back," said Wendy, getting up and heading to the restroom. Soos and Melody were distracted by their own conversation, and Abuelita had gone to the bar to chat with Mayor Tyler. Mabel decided to pull out her sketch from earlier, but couldn't find it.

"What the…" Going through her black bag, Mabel couldn't find any of her things. There were only a few pencils, and two large, leather-bound books. "This isn't my bag."

Her mumbling had caught Dipper's attention and he looked into the bag as well. His eyes went wide at its contents. He whispered to his twin, "Aris had a similar bag."

"Crap. I'll tell Wendy."

"No, no. Keep quiet about this. I'll explain later."

Mabel gave him an unsure frown. She didn't like having someone else's things, especially someone who seemed so rude, and even a little scary. Now that they were intentionally hiding the books, it was essentially stealing. But she trusted her brother. They had gone to hell and back multiple times together. If he told her to bet it all on double zero, she would do it. That still didn't make her any less nervous.

* * *

"WENDY KNOWS MAGIC?!"

"Keep it down! I doubt Soos and Melody know. And you know how Abuelita gets about these things."

"Sorry," Mabel whispered. "So that's why Wendy seemed so flustered with you at the diner?"

"Yea, I'm going to assume so," said Dipper. "It gets worse. I think Wendy wants Aris to teach us magic, too."

"Really? That's awesome."

"He said no."

Mabel's smile disappeared. "But… why?"

"Because, and in Wendy's words, we weren't ' _part of the deal'_." Dipper let the words sink in.

Mabel stared at the floor for a few seconds, and then looked up to her twin. "Do don't think he's… like Bill… do you?"

"I don't know. That's what the signs seem to point at. He has magic. He made a deal with Wendy, possibly so she would help with whatever Gateway is. And then there's that voice."

"Don't remind me." Even though Mabel only heard a single word, it was still enough to send shivers down her spine at the thought.

"When he left, he used the voice again. He was looking right at me, and I could have sworn his pupils were vertical slits… Just like Bill's…" He began pacing, trying to think of how to proceed. Finally, he sat down on his bed, pulling Mabel with him. "Aris is going to find out we have his books. I say we got a day at most before he comes knocking on our door. I doubt he'll hurt us with Wendy around, but…" He trailed off, not wanting to speak the worse possible scenario.

There was a loud silence in the room till Mabel spoke up. "Right now our best shot at answers are the two books in that bag." Dipper just nodded. "Let's do it."

* * *

 **000000**

* * *

 **Ta-da! Chapter 2 is done!** A shout out to the four people who followed my story after the first chapter. Thanks for the vote of confidence. An extra big thank you to **A Sub-Creator** for their comments. Don't worry. I have no intentions on shipping Aris with anyone. The dude is too much of a jerk. But if anyone would like to see some GF loving, let me know. I might be able to squeeze something in.

 **All comments and crits are welcome!**


	3. The First Spell

**March 2013**

"Before we get started, let's set out some ground rules."

"I thought your whole shtick was no rules," joked Wendy, wanting to get on with her first lesson.

"That's a gross oversimplification, and you know it," said Aris. Wendy just shrugged, not really caring. Aris continued. "One. This power will give you a significant advantage with everything you use it for. Under no circumstances are you allowed to use it to subjugate your fellow man for personal gain. _Ever_. Understand?"

"What? You scared I'm going to become a super villain and take over the world? Oh, the humanity," Wendy said with an overdramatic fear. She even started balled up her fist as if mocking a scared child.

 _ **"We're being serious, Corduroy! We have only ever taught two other people this magic, and we we're forced to kill them."**_

Wendy jumped back at the sudden outburst. She had only heard rumors of Aris's double voice from the Rhaegal Tech employees. It truly was something of nightmares. "You're joking, right? ...Right?" she said, trying to play off her terror.

"I wish I was. I once visited an empire under a tyrant's rule. I taught two slaves how to use rune magic and helped them free their people. I left for a few years, only to return to a nation locked in civil war. The slaves had become the masters they loathed and began to fight each other for dominance. I had no choice but to remove them along with anyone they had taught magic to." Aris closed the gap between Wendy and himself with deadly speed. "I'm taking a chance on you, Red. _**Don't disappoint**_."

"Got it," Wendy gulped. "What are the other rules?"

Aris stepped back, giving the girl some breathing room. "Rule two is don't overestimate your abilities. Rune magic allows for quick reactions, but it requires more energy than traditional sorcery. Overextending yourself could result in loss of consciousness. It also requires precision. We are bending reality to our will, so incorrectly casting a spell will have unpredictable consequences."

"Don't be evil. Don't be stupid. Anything else?"

"Last rule." Aris opened up his messenger bag and pulled out a large, leather-bound book. The leather had a red tint and the cover had a circle imprint. Inside the circle were eight symbols and a seven-point star. "This is my spell book. It contains over five hundred years of research into rune magic. I keep it with me at all times. When you are ready, I'll loan it to you to study from. _Never_ let it leave your side. We need to keep tabs on this book at all times, because if the wrong person were to use it…"

"They might try to take over the world," Wendy finished for him.

"Or worse. Now, what were the three rules?"

"Don't be evil. Don't be stupid. Protect the spell book."

"Once again Red, you are over simplifying. I'll let it slide _this_ time." Aris opened the book. "First lesson. Rune magic is based on the circle."

* * *

 **June 2015**

 _ **I know this is potentially catastrophic, but…**_

 _Don't._

 _ **HAHAHAHAHA! It's just too funny! HAHAHAHA!**_

 _CAN IT, SCALE FACE!_

Aris looked down at the pile of art supplies and colorful sketch books with horror. His spell book and journal were nowhere to be seen.

"Wow, Albino boy," Grace snickered, "We had no idea you were so infatuated with pink." The lab filled with the chuckle of tired engineers.

"Now is not the time!"

The exact time was 4:07 AM. Aris and his engineering team had spent the entire night making sure everything was running perfectly for the upcoming Gateway test. All the systems were running in the green, and the team was looking forward to some well-earned sleep. That was until Aris went to jot down some notes in his project journal. That's when he dumped out the messenger bag, and slowly began to panic.

"This is bad. This is bad. This is bad." Aris started pacing. Between the laughing in his head and the thought of his spell book in the wrong hands, thinking straight was near impossible. Fortunately, one of the older staff members came to his aid.

"It all okay," said Kaito in his heavy Japanese accent. "We give books to girl, and girl give you books back." He picked up a notebook with the name _Mabel Pines_ written on the cover.

"I really doubt I can find whoever… wait." Aris stared at the book for a second. " _Pines_ … Wendy's friends!" With a laugh of his own, Aris hugged the elder engineer, much to everyone's shock. "I owe you one, Kaito! Whenever you need it!" he shouted then ran off.

"Did Mr. Rogers just hug another human being?"

Once outside, Aris pulled out his cellphone and selected Corduroy from the contacts list. "Come on, Red. I need you to answer," he muttered to himself. After the fifth ring, there was an answer.

"What the fuck, dude? Do you have any idea what time it is?" said Wendy, yawning halfway through her sentence.

"Do you know Mabel Pines?"

"Yea, you fixed her wrist at the diner yesterday."

"Figures," Aris sighed. "I have her bag, with all her stuff. We must have switched when she ran into me."

"What was in your bag?" Wendy asked.

"My journal for Gateway and the spell book."

"Ah, hell."

"Where are they now?"

"The twins are staying at the Mystery Shack, like they always do," said Wendy. "But they'll be asleep. We'll have to get it later."

"You know that's not an option, Red."

"I'm going back to bed. If you want your books back now, you'll have to go to the Shack yourself."

"I…" Aris let out another heavy sigh. "Fine. Meet me at the Mystery Shack at eight. DON'T be late."

"Yea, yea. I'll be there. It's an excuse to start my lessons early. And maybe we can talk about your antisocial tendencies while we're-"

*CLICK*

Aris hung up before Wendy could spew off her mouth anymore. He hated when she tried to give him life advice.

 _ **There is**_ _ **nothing more for us to do but wait. We should get some rest.**_

 _Sure…_

* * *

Mabel and Dipper decided that the best way to start would be to make copies of the books. Then they could continue their research indefinitely and still play dumb when Aris inevitably came knocking. What they didn't anticipate was the insane amount of paper and ink they would burn though trying to copy the red book. The brown book was simple enough. It was a science journal filled with notes pertaining to some sort of machine. Dipper wondered out loud if it was for Gateway, but he couldn't tell from the few glances he took while copying.

The red book seemed to defy logic. It was only a little bigger than Great Uncle Ford's journals, which were _at most_ three hundred pages each. Aris's journal, however, had over a thousand pages. No matter how many pages they turned, it felt like they weren't getting any closer to finishing. It was as if the book was creating more pages. But every time they closed it, it was the same size. After several gulling hours and having to refill the copier machine multiple times, they eventually had a printed version of the red book. Mabel wanted to staple the pages together, but soon gave up when her tired mind realized that their version was eight inches thick.

"You were right Bro-bro. The book was enchanted," Mabel yawned out.

"Yea. Let's get this stuff upstairs. We don't need anyone finding it," said Dipper.

"Noooooo. Too tired. Mabel sleep here."

"Come on, Mabel. We need to clean up." Dipper understood his sister's exhaustion. He was no stranger to pulling all-nighters, but he had never felt so tired after one. His paranoia wanted to say it was because of the red book. The whole night, it felt like the thing was drawing energy from him and Mabel. The reasonable part of his mind knew that couldn't be true. What was the point of a magic book that made you tired as you read from it? The contents looked like spells, so maybe Aris had a spell to keep people out of the book. But if it was a trap to prevent the wrong person from reading it, why wasn't he dead already? Maybe it was just travel fatigue.

After much effort over two trips, the twins managed to get both books and the copies up stairs. Once the door was shut, Mabel crashed. She plopped down on her bed, still fully dressed, and immediately fell asleep. Dipper wasn't far behind. He had just enough energy to find a hiding spot for the copies. He zipped them up in one of his empty suitcases, and then buried the case under Mabel's suitcases. It wasn't the best, but it would work for the time being. And with the time being 4:42 AM, Dipper's brain shut down as he collapsed on to his own bed.

* * *

Aris pulled up to the Mystery Shack on his blue motorcycle, happy to see Wendy already waiting for him. "Where's your car?" he asked.

"Eh. It's easier to walk here from my house," she responded. Then she held up a motorcycle helmet. "Besides, you owe me a ride on that sweet thing. You know, since this mess is your fault."

Pulling off his own helmet, Aris let out a sigh. "Yes. I know. Let's get this over with."

The two knocked on the house door to the Shack, and quickly heard the lock clicking.

"Wendy! What's up, dude?" Soos said, opening the door.

"It's going fine, my man."

"And you brought your friend over. Arthur?"

"Aris," Aris corrected. "Aris Rogers."

"Right. Man, I haven't seen you around here in a long time. What's the occasion?" asked Soos.

"It's nothing. We just ne-"

"Dude, it's hilarious!" Wendy interrupted, oblivious to her mentor's irritation. "When Mabel ran into him at the diner, they switched book bags. He called me up at, like, four in the morning, all panicking. 'Oh no! Mabel has my stuff!' "

"Gross. Misdescription. Wendy."

 _ **Hahaha. Funny as always, Corduroy.**_

 _I swear I'm going to end up killing this girl._

Soos gave Aris a puzzled look. "What was in the bag?"

"Company stuff, important papers, that kind of thing," Aris responded.

"Haha. Dude, that's some tough luck. The twins are still asleep upstairs."

"Seriously?" Wendy asked. "Even Mabel?"

"You bet. The little dudes must have been up late or something. They are totally out of it. If you're quiet, you might be able to switch the bags without waking them."

"Thank you, Mr. Ramirez," said Aris. "Lead the way, Red."

Wendy slowly opened the attic door, making sure not to wake the twins. Aris went in right behind her, already rubbing his temples.

"You gonna be okay?" she asked. She knew how the Shack always gave him headaches. She was wondering if it would have been better to have him wait outside.

"I'm fine." He was lying, but he had felt worse pain before. He handed his student the bag off his shoulder. "Just switch the bags so we can go." Wendy quickly found the bag at the foot of Dipper's bed. After checking to make sure the books were inside, she picked it up and put Mabel's bag in its place.

When she turned to leave, Aris stopped her. "Do the twins normally wear their day clothes to bed?" he asked.

"Only when they are incredibly tired."

"Hmm." Aris went over to Mabel's bed and tried to wake her up. "Wake up, Mabel." She remained asleep. "Shooting Star?"

"Dude, don't call her that."

Aris just gave Wendy a look before bending down to shake Mabel. "Time to get up, Pines."

The shaking stirred Mabel just enough to get a reaction. She swatted his hand away while mumbling in her sleep, and then turned her back to him. Through the mumbling, Aris and Wendy could understand their names along with the words stupid, eyes, and enchanted book.

"Curse my luck," said Aris before exiting the room.

Before they could leave the Shack, the two were stopped by Soos.

"You dudes leaving so soon?"

"Yep," answered Wendy. "We got things to do. I'll be back later."

"Sweet. While you're out, could you swing by the copier store?" asked Soos as he handed Aris a paper with model number for his copier machine. "I could have sworn I grabbed a ton of paper and ink, but I'm already running low."

"You don't say," said Aris, staring at the paper.

"It's seriously freaky, dudes. I'm thinking some gnomes snuck in or something."

"Yea… I'll grab some rat traps for you, too."

"Thanks, man. I owe you one," said Soos. Aris simply waved it off, walking out of the Shack with his eyes on the model number. "Is he okay?"

"He has a headache," was Wendy's response, but her concerned look said there was more to the situation. "Later, Soos."

Closing the door behind her, Wendy found her mentor by his motorcycle still staring at the paper. "Just to recap, there is a pretty good chance Mabel and Dipper are zonked out because they went through the spell book last night." Wendy only received a nod in response. "And unless the gnomes suddenly have a thing for printer paper, they also made a copy for themselves."

"Here." Aris handed the paper to Wendy. As soon as it was out of his hand, he screamed and tossed a bolt of energy at nearby tree. The entire tree was engulfed in flames for a split second before it disintegrated into an ash pile. _**"FUCK! STUPID! STUPID! WHY?"**_

"Are you done?" The bitterness in Wendy's question was not lost on the man.

"You got something to say, Red?" yelled Aris.

"This is your fault," Aris rolled his eyes at her, "and NOT because you grabbed the wrong bag."

"Okay. I'll bite. What did I do wrong?"

"You never trust anyone," she said.

"No! Nonononono. I am not playing psychoanalysis with you."

"Oh, quit being such a fucking baby!" Wendy wanted to chain him to the ground and make him listen, but she didn't have her casting gloves. "You never share anything with anyone. You never wanted anyone to know about our deal. Not even my friends. You don't trust them, and worst of all you don't trust me!"

"That's bullshit, Wendy. And you know it. I've trusted you with more than anyone else."

"Not where it mattered. You've only taught me all this crap because you felt that you owed me. Because it was part of some stupid deal I obviously didn't think though. You never trusted me with my friends. Now those friends don't trust me."

"You still haven't connected this back to the twins."

"If Dipper wasn't so suspicious of me… If the twins still trusted me, they wouldn't have messed with the spell book. They would have come to me. Instead, you and the brain worm made Dipper panic and now they are messing with shit that could get them killed."

Aris broke his gaze with Wendy. She was right and there was no avoiding it. He was silent for a solid minute, leaning against the motorcycle with his eyes down. "I do trust you, Red," he finally said, "but I guess it's not in the ways you want me to."

"Aris"

"Let me finish. You are right about me on some things, as much as it hurts to admit. I'm a cynical, antisocial nutcase with a bad temper. But you need to realize that I need certain secrets kept for a reason. I've made a lot of enemies over the years, and I don't want you, or anyone else, in the middle of that. If you can accept that, I'm willing accept that I need to listen to and trust you more."

Wendy perked up at that. "Really?" she asked.

Aris nodded. "You have grown up a lot since I've met you. Maybe it's time for me to start thinking of you less as a student and more as a partner. You can tell your friends about our deal and the magic. Rebuild your relationship with them. _Just.._. Please use some discretion in the details. And be careful who you tell. I don't need word getting out."

Wendy smiled. "Deal"

"Deal"

*snap*

Both their heads jerked towards the tree line. Standing in his suit was Soos, frozen in fear.

"Uh. Just ignore the large man tip-toeing by."

"Soos," said Wendy. "How long have you been there?"

"I wasn't listening, I swear! I was getting the mail, and you two were having a moment, so I was just going to sneak by."

Wendy looked over at her mentor. "How did you miss him?"

Aris just rubbed his temples in frustration. "Get on the bike. I need caffeine."

* * *

"Come on, you big doofus! It's almost noon!"

Dipper groaned, trying to see who was disturbing his sleep. Blinking several times, the room around him came into focus. First he saw Mabel sitting up in her own bed, rubbing her eyes. Turning his head, he spotted Candy and Grenda talking about the day ahead. Turning a little further, he saw Pacifica staring down at him, her eyebrows scrunched with a disapproving look.

"About time. We've been trying to wake you two up for ten minutes!" said Pacifica.

"Sorry, we were up later than expected," yawned Dipper. He sat up and stretched, letting out a low moan as his joints cracked.

"Of course you were. How could I possibly expect better from the Pines Twins?"

"Don't be like that Paz," said Mabel, surprising Pacifica with a hug from behind. "We know you love us."

"I shouldn't. You knew we were coming over. But you still decided to stay up late _on the same day you traveled here_."

"Girls, a little backup?" Mabel looked back at Candy and Grenda. Instead of providing backup, they shrugged and coughed awkwardly.

Grenda spoke up first. "I got to agree with Pacifica on this one."

"Come on!"

"She's right, Mabel," said Candy, "but you can still make it up to us."

Mabel pretended to think about it, before relenting. "Oh, alright," she joked. "First round of summer makeovers is on me!" The three girls cheered and jumped around. Pacifica wanted to be annoyed, but she secretly admired the overly-girly excitement and was soon joining them.

"Oh no." The girls stop and looked over at Dipper, who was going through a messenger bag.

"Oh no? I don't like oh no, Bro-bro." Mabel quickly joined him. "Hey, my stuff!" She grabbed one of the sketchbooks, a giant grin on her face. It quickly faded, however, when she realized that having her stuff meant that Aris had already shown up for his books. "Oh no. Where did we put the copies?"

"I hid them in my suitcase," said Dipper, digging though the pile he made the night before.

"Uh, could someone fill us in?" asked Grenda. Her request was unheard by the twins.

"Found it!" exclaimed Dipper, heaving up a giant stack of papers. He plopped them down in front of his sister. The two of them started to laugh, relief and satisfaction painted clear on their faces.

"Mystery Twins! Boom!" The two cheered and shared a fist bump.

"What is going on with you two?" Pacifica had her hands on her hips. The two girls behind her simply looked perplexed. "There better be a good explanation for you acting extra weird, or so help me I will pay Grenda to wallop both of you."

"I would never!" said Grenda, turning her nose up at the idea. "But an explanation would be nice."

"Guys, you are not going to believe it," said Dipper. "We managed to get ahold of Aris Rogers's spell book, and we were up all night making a copy!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Back up," said Pacifica. "Are you talking about the ultra-pale guy that always orders hot chocolate mixed with his coffee?"

"Uh… Probably?"

"Oh!" Mabel jumped in. "He has a motorcycle and works at the science facility!"

"Right." Pacifica took a deep breath. "And you are telling me that he has a spell book, _and_ _that you stole it_ , and you were up _all_ _night_ making copies of it."

"Pacifica, this is huge!" Dipper desperately tried to make her see his point of view. "Aris has been a total mystery for two years, and now we-"

"I'm out." Pacifica turned away and left the room. "I'm leaving in thirty minutes, with or without you," she said over her shoulder.

"Geez," said Mabel. "What's her problem?"

"Well..." The twins turned to Candy. "You haven't been in town for a day, and you are already trying to find mysteries and getting into trouble. It usually takes you two a week to do that."

"Yea. Maybe you should slow down. Get settled," said Grenda.

"This is different," Mabel defended, her serious tone feeling uncanny compared to her usual positive attitude. "This is about helping Wendy. Maybe it's nothing, but if this Aris guy is dangerous, then we need to stop him before he can hurt her. Like how Bill…" She stopped and looked away. Mabel shut her eyes, trying to find the words to describe the painful thought. "Like how Bill used Grunkle Ford," she whispered. The room was dead silent. No one knew how to respond.

Dipper decided that a moment was needed. "You two go downstairs. Tell Pacifica we'll be there in a minute." He spoke with a smile, and Grenda and Candy nodded as they left. "You gonna be okay?"

"I'm fine," said Mabel. "This thing is just dragging out bad memories."

"Sorry. I'm the one who jumped the gun on comparing Aris to Bill. Now you are all panicky, too." Dipper chuckled. Mabel remained silent. "Hey," he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Wendy will be fine. She's a total badass who has saved both our butts multiple times. If this dude turns out to be evil, I can guarantee she'll be the one ready to take him down."

"And what about us?"

"Well, we got a lot of research ahead of us," he said, looking towards the stack of paper, "but we'll get to the bottom of this mystery. We always do."

Mabel gave him a warm smile. "What kind of weird alternate reality is this? Dipper cheering up Mabel? TWICE?"

"Maybe the spell book made us switch places," Dipper joked.

"Impossible! You could never look as fabulous as me."

"No arguments here."

* * *

The twins came down the stairs, each in a fresh set of clothes. Mabel wore a pair of shorts with a hand-knitted mermaid sweater, while Dipper wore jeans along with his signature pine tree hat and red shirt. He had long since outgrown his vest, and had yet to find an adequate replacement. Mabel suggested he would look "rad" in a letterman jacket, but he quickly dismissed that idea.

Each twin donned a back pack. Mabel was also carrying her makeup kit in her hands, which the girls became ecstatic about, and Dipper was carrying the spell book papers, which instantly killed the girls' mood.

"Dipper, you can't be serious," Candy protested.

"Do you honestly expect me to just sit there while you ladies play fashion model?"

"You could join us," said Grenda. "Male models are hot!" Pacifica's immediate outburst of laughter could be heard from the kitchen, causing Dipper to groan.

Not wanting to get his fill of glamorous torture too soon, the boy went into the office. Grabbing a few blank papers, Dipper divided the giant stack into eight parts. He then placed a blank paper on each smaller stack and labeled them in order with large, black numbers. To keep the papers together, each stack received two blinder clips. He felt kind of bad about stealing Soos's office supplies after using up all of the printer ink, but figured he had all summer to pay the man back.

After some deliberation, and outvoting Dipper, the five teens decided to drive the golf cart to Pacifica's house. None of them were old enough for a driver's license, but they figured that both twins were familiar enough with it to take it into town. On the off chance they were pulled over, it wouldn't be hard to talk their way out of trouble. The twins had a positive reputation with the Gravity Falls police, especially Sherriff Blubs.

The two story house was about the same size as the Mystery Shack. Unlike the Shack, it was modern and state-of-the-art in every way. It had a garage and a well-kept lawn, along with being smack-dap in the middle of Gravity Falls' nicest neighborhood. However, the house rarely held more than two people in it: Pacifica and her father.

Once they lost their fortune, Preston and Pricilla's marriage rapidly fell apart. Sure, they still had a couple million in the bank, and both were able to find high salary jobs with investment firms. But the shame of losing the prestige and power the Northwest name once held was too much. After the divorce was finalized, Pricilla fled to Chicago, leaving her ex-husband and heartbroken daughter behind. Preston wanted to leave as well, but Pacifica insisted they stay in Gravity Falls.

"Will your dad mind me parking in the driveway?" asked Mabel.

"He's in LA on business. Just don't ruin the grass, and we'll be fine."

The inside of the house was clean and brightly colored. The overall style was fancier and more sophisticated than one might expect, but not to the extreme of what Northwest Manor was. The girls went straight to the dining room, but Dipper went to the living room. Plopping down on the leather couch, he pulled the first four parts of the spell book out of his back pack.

Most of the pages had a circle on them, each with a different arrangement of symbols and stars. Some of the circles were simple looking; only containing a star and a few symbols. Others seemed to contain multiple different circles within a single large circle, implying that there was no limit to how complex the spells could get.

There was also the trouble of deciphering the notes on every page. Each circle had a description of what the spell would do. Dipper's problem, however, was that only some of the notes were written with English. One spell would be described with English, then the next would be in Japanese, then what he assumed was Arabic, then back to English. In the first packet, he counted six different languages, and those were only the ones he could tell apart. If one page had German, and the next had Finnish, Dipper would have no way to know the difference. Soon, he resigned himself to just tag anything in English with page markers.

There were a few spells that caught his attention as he was tagging. One spell was labeled _Fireworks_ and had multiple variations with color labels. Another was a spell containing seven circles enclosed in a single large one. It was only labeled _**MAD**_ in large letters, which could have meant countless different things. One said _Chain Whip_ , and had a detailed description on how a person could tattoo their arm with the spell for use whenever they needed it. Dipper made a mental note to keep a look out for that if he ran into Aris.

After an hour, all four packets had page markers of various colors sticking out. Seeing as he might as well tag the whole spell book, Dipper went to get the second four packets from Mabel. He never made it to the dining room, as he was distracted by the giggling coming from the kitchen. Once though the doorway, he found the four glitterfied girls standing around the center island. On the island were two half eaten pizzas, and the ache in his stomach made itself known.

"You guys ordered pizza and didn't tell me?" Dipper's mouth was threatening to overflow from how much it watered.

"Sorry, Dippingsauce," said Mabel. "You were really into the book, and we didn't want to disturb you."

Pacifica handed Dipper a plate. "Don't worry, it's still hot." He went straight for the pepperoni and was soon scarfing down his fill. "Jeez, you want to slow down? Have some manners around the ladies."

"Ladies?" inquired Dipper. "All I see are a bunch of paint covered monsters." His joke received a round of booing from the girls, making him laugh.

"Maybe we should give Dipper a makeover," said Candy, causing the boy choke on his food.

Once Dipper had convinced the girls he did not need a makeover, the teens converged in the living room. Pacifica had received a Gamestation 4 the previous Christmas, and everyone wanted to give it a whirl. Bloodstone had peaked Mabel and Dipper's interest, but was passed as it was single player only. Grenda suggested Borderworlds HD, so she could "shotgun the skrags" but they ultimately decided on racing with Grand Tour Sport. Grenda and Candy went first, while Dipper showed Mabel how he tagged the spell book with the second four packets.

"You two shouldn't be messing with that," said Pacifica, gazing at them out of the corner of her eye.

"What? It's just paper." Dipper held up one of the packets and fanned out the pages. "See?"

"No, I mean you shouldn't be messing with magic. That goes doubly so if it came from that Aris creep."

The twins shared a look before gazing back at their blonde friend. "What do you know about him?" asked Mabel.

"Not much outside of his taste in food. He always comes in to the diner alone, and I'm willing to bet it's because he's dangerous. One time at work, Robbie called Aris a freak under his breath. The man somehow heard from across the diner and _picked up_ Robbie by his collar. For a second, I thought Aris was going to kill him!"

"What happened after that?"

"Not much fortunately." Pacifica leaned back on the loveseat, turning her eyes to the TV. "He tossed Robbie aside. Not enough to hurt, but it did make Robbie fall. Then he slammed some money on the counter and walked out. Susan wasn't there that day, so nothing came of the incident."

Dipper gave her a determined smile. "All the more reason to look into this guy. If he's dangerous, then we need to find out what he's up to before he can hurt anyone."

"You two are crazy."

"And we are with you one hundred percent," said Grenda, standing up triumphantly. She had beat Candy at the race, making the shorter girl pout.

"Yes. Count me in, too," sighed Candy.

"Aw, you guys," said Mabel, giving her friends a hug. "What's you say, Pacifica? Want to help us take this guy down?" She made a fist for emphasis.

""We are not taking anyone down," interjected Dipper, walking over to Pacifica. "We just want to make sure he's not gonna take over the world." He offered the girl a hand with a smile.

She smiled back, unable to resist the glimmer in his eyes. "Fine." She took his hand and stood up. "But only because it's for you guys."

"Hooray! I knew you loved us!" Mabel cheered, pulling the other girls over to the packets. "Dipper, you go ahead and race or something. We got this."

With each girl taking a packet, the tagging process only took about twenty minutes. Grenda, Candy, and Pacifica weren't as fast as the twins. However, it was still better than when Dipper did four by himself. As an added bonus, Candy decided to go through all of the packets and tag anything written in Korean. There were only a few such spells in each packet, so it didn't take that long. Once it was 3:30 PM, all eight packets had been properly tagged.

"Now we need to test this magic," said Dipper.

"Assuming we can." Pacifica was still hesitant about the whole thing.

"Oh, we can," said Candy. "According to one passage, so long as the circle is properly drawn, and enough energy it ran across it, the spell will always work."

"I bet we can use ourselves for energy," exclaimed Mabel. "That might explain how Aris was able to heal my wrist by just grabbing it."

"It's worth a shot," said Dipper. "Any ideas on what to test?"

"How about fireworks?" asked Grenda. "That should be simple."

"Maybe, but I don't want to draw any unnecessary attention."

The teens continued to look for a suitable spell before Candy spoke up again. "What about increased intelligence?"

"That's a thing?" asked Pacifica.

"Yep. And there are even instructions on how to cast it."

Everyone looked to Dipper. "That should work."

For the circle, they used one of Pacifica's spare bed sheets and nail polish. The outer circle was drawn using some yarn and a pencil, and then Dipper made the eight-point star with a protractor and measuring tape. Mabel was given the job of properly drawing the symbols. Once they finished, it was just a matter of deciding who to use it on. Grenda eagerly volunteered, but the twins didn't want to put anyone else at risk.

"I'll do it," stated Mabel.

"Are you sure about that?" asked Dipper, concern for his sister clear on his voice.

"Trust me, Dipper. This way, our friends won't be at risk, and it will be easier to test if the magic actually worked."

"Alright. Let's play."

The test in question was a game of chess. Dipper was by far the best player, with only Pacifica being able to give him any sort of challenge. With three control games, Dipper had won against his twin in under twenty moves every time. Assuming Candy was reading the book correctly, the spell would give Mabel increased learning speed and comprehension. As she played chess against Dipper, she would quickly get better and eventually beat him.

Candy read the instructions for the spell. "Mabel, lie down with your head on the middle symbol."

"Is it weird that my stomach is doing backflips right now?" asked Mabel as she did what Candy told her.

"If you're too nervous, we'll stop," said Dipper. "We can try a different spell."

Mabel took a deep breath. "No, I'm good. This is for Wendy."

"For Wendy," Dipper repeated with a smile.

"Okay, now the rest of us sit outside the circle," continued Candy. "Once everyone is in position, we all place both palm down. Your arms need to be in line with the outer rim of the circle. Then we need to direct our energy into the circle, whatever that means."

"Maybe if we focus on our hands really hard," said Grenda.

"It's worth a shot," said Pacifica. Everyone sat down and placed their hands as instructed.

"Last chance to back out, sis," warned Dipper.

"I'm no chicken. Let's make me a genius!"

Dipper couldn't help but chuckle. "Everyone close your eyes and focus." Nothing happened at first. The seconds ticked by until they were at a minute. Still nothing, until Pacifica finally spoke.

She whispered, "Guys, I'm starting to feel something," not wanting to break focus.

"I'm starting to feel it, too," said Grenda. "It's getting stronger."

"Keep at it," said Dipper. "We almost got it." Soon, the circle began to glow. A bright green illuminated the room as the spell reworked Mabel's brain.

* * *

Mabel opened her eyes, smiling with excitement. "Guys, I think it worked!" She sat up, but was no longer in Pacifica's living room. "Guys?"

Looking around, she realized that she was back in her bedroom at the Mystery Shack. Only it wasn't the bedroom, as all the colors were off. Her bed sheets were yellow instead of pink, and Dipper's were purple instead of blue. The lantern flame was an eerie green, and the posters were sun-bleached. The weirdest thing was that all of the random junk that once filled the attic when Stan ran the Shack was knocked over and ripped apart.

"Where am I?" Standing up, she made her way to the door, being careful to watch her step. When she opened the door, she jumped back as there was another girl standing there.

 _ **"It's all your fault,"**_ she said, taking a step towards Mabel.

"What are you talking about? Who are you?!" Mabel tried to get away, but fell backwards over the scraps of metal and wood.

 _ **"They suffered because of you."**_ The mysterious girl continued forward as Mabel tried to shuffle away. When she backed into the table, the lantern fell over and exploded. The green flames filled the room and began to orbit above her. Looking up, Mabel saw the flames surrounding an inky black circle. The blackness began to suck up all the junk in the room, like a dark void wanting to swallow up the world.

 _ **"You deserve to suffer, too."**_ The strange girl grabbed the terrified Mabel and stared at her. Mabel got her first good look at the girl, and was shocked into silence. The girl was a reflection of her. It was almost like staring into a mirror, except the other girl was far too skinny and appeared to be deathly ill. They stared at each other for a few seconds, before the mirror girl let go, and Mabel began to float away.

"No! Please!" Mabel screamed in desperation, grabbing on to the mirror girl's sleeve. "Don't make me go in there!"

The mirror girl grew furious. _**"You deserve this!"**_ she yelled and pushed Mabel away, sending her into the void.

* * *

"No!" Mabel shot up from her spot on the circle, tears flowing down her face.

"Whoa! Easy there, Mabel", said Dipper, trying to calm her down. "What happened?"

"I... I don't know. I was back at the Mystery Shack, except everything was destroyed and there was another me. And… and she was trying to get rid of me!"

"It's okay. You just had a bad dream."

"But… it felt so real."

"It's probably a side effect of the spell." Dipper stood up, helping his sister up as well. "The others fell asleep, so I figured you- Whoa!" Dipper was a bit shocked by the sudden, tight hug Mabel was giving him. Then again, he probably shouldn't be too surprised given how distressed she was. "Must have been one hell of a nightmare," he said, hugging her back.

"You have no idea," she mumbled into his shoulder before letting go. Looking up, she noticed that her friends were all asleep. Grenda was sprawled out on the love seat while Candy and Pacifica each had one end of the large couch. "What's up with them?"

"They've been out for about five minutes. All three crashed once the spell was done. Candy barely made it to the couch."

"And what about you?"

"I'm tired, but I don't need to sleep yet. I'll be fine till after dinner." The two twins continued to stare at the sleeping girls for a few more minutes.

"They're not waking up anytime soon, are they," Mabel asked, already knowing the answer.

"I doubt it. We should clean up and head back to the Shack."

* * *

00000

* * *

 **Oh sweet Mother of Mary, I got it done.** I just stated a new job this last week and I have been WIPED! This chapter is twice as long as the others, as I wanted something with a bit more substance with it. Not sure if future chapters will be the same. I did my best to edit this, but I ran out of caffeine, so I apologize for any typos and mistakes. If you find any, let me know so I can edit them out. As always, all comments and critiques are appreciated!


	4. Coming Clean

Wendy swung her staff high, but Aris stepped out of the way. She tried swinging from the right, only to miss again.

"You are projecting your attacks," said Aris. "Keep it short and quick."

Tightening her grip on the staff, Wendy did as she was instructed. As her swings closed in on Aris, he was forced to stop dodging and start blocking the attacks. After a few minutes of this, Aris began to swing back at her. Unlike Wendy's attacks, his were clean and precise every time. She tried to retaliate, but as her mentor sped up, it became too much for her. All the girl could do was block and hope Aris didn't overwhelm her.

"Watch your stance," he called out, but Wendy wasn't able to adjust. With a final swing, he made her lose her footing and fall on her butt. She dropped her staff from her gloved hands and it dissolved into nothingness. "I guess we should practice footwork next."

Wendy groaned and lied back with a thump. "We've been at this for hours. I need a break."

"Seriously? You have never complained about breaks before."

"You never made me take a month off before!" She lifted her head to gaze at the pale man. "This is on you."

"That's what you get for being stupid."

"You lost the spell book."

Aris rolled his eyes and walked over to his student. He leaned over her, blocking her view of the sky. "I hate it when you are right," he said, earning a fat grin from Wendy.

The two sat down on a nearby log. They each sipped on a protein shake and enjoyed the mutual silence for a few minutes. It was broken when Wendy make a joke about Aris having a milk mustache, drawing a soft chuckle from him.

"It's been a productive day for us. You want to put this on hold till tomorrow?"

Wendy gave the man a confused, sideways glance. "Are you being serious?"

"Well," Aris paused. "We retrieved my books, went to the copier store, then the diner, swung by the Kwik N' Kold, and just spent about four hours reviewing most of the magic you know. We even had some combat practice, though you did fall on your ass."

"Dude, shut up," Wendy laughed, punching his arm. "But since you are offering, I would like to head back to the Shack. Maybe get a shower."

"There is also the matter of the twins."

Wendy's mood instantly deflated. "Yea. That."

"Look," Aris sighed. He rubbed his temples, trying to think of the best way to word his thoughts. "I apologize for getting us into this mess. And I apologize for leaving it all on you. We know celestials can't operate inside the Mystery Shack. That means it's up to you to contain the situation. I trust you, Red. Use your best judgment, and call on me if things get out of hand."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," said Wendy. "It's still going to be awkward trying to talk to Dipper about all of this. I'm pretty sure you scared him shitless yesterday."

"That, I will not apologize for."

* * *

Mabel and Dipper returned to the Mystery Shack a few minutes before dinner. By their outer appearance, the Pines Twins looked absolutely fine. Their brains were telling a different story. Dipper was exhausted. He didn't want to show it, as falling asleep so early might raise suspicions from the other Shack residents. However, his tiredness was severe enough that Mabel had to drive home. He knew it was from messing around with Aris's magic, and it would also explain why they were so tired after copying the spell book.

Mabel's problem was an emotional one. The nightmare she had severely altered her immediate mental state. Dipper tried to get her to talk about it on the drive back, but she refused. It wasn't that she didn't want to tell her brother. She just didn't know how. Whenever Mabel was scared or angry or sad, she could describe the feeling and the events that caused it. This was different. She couldn't name this emotion, because it felt like she had no emotions. Mabel's chest was an empty void, and it terrified her.

Abuelita greeted the twins as they entered the kitchen. "Dipper, Mabel, you are just in time. Would you two mind telling the others supper is ready?" The siblings nodded and mumbled their confirmation, leaving their book bags behind to look for Melody and Soos.

Melody was easy to locate, as she was chatting with Wendy in the gift shop. "I could really go for some ice cream right now," she said while munching on a pickle.

"What happened to eating healthy for the baby?" joked Wendy.

"I'm sorry Wendy. I didn't know you were expert on growing life," said Melody, giving the redhead a deadly stare. Her attitude instantly dissipated when she spotted the twins. "Oh, hey guys!"

Wendy simply smiled with a "sup".

"Abuelita said dinner is ready," said Dipper. "Where's Soos?"

"He's giving a tour," answered Wendy. "You guys go ahead while I watch the shop. You too, Melody."

"Really? Thanks."

"No problemo."

Abuelita was reluctant to start eating without Soos, but Melody's begging convinced her otherwise. She knew better than to get between a pregnant woman and good cooking. The four of them began to plate their food when Soos walked in, already loosening his tie. The Pines Twins and Ramirez family enjoyed their meal with friendly conversation until Wendy walked in about twenty minutes later.

"The Mystery Shack is all locked up for ya," she said, handing the Shack keys to Soos.

"Thanks dude. Want some grub before you head home."

"Sure. I'm starving."

Abuelita grabbed a folding chair from the corner and placed it next to her own chair. "Here, Wendy. Sit down and relax." Wendy happily obliged, loading her plate with her share of chicken and cornbread. She had taken a few bites when Abuelita cleared her throat.

"Wendy, I was wondering if you were doing anything this Sunday," she said. Soos and Melody stopped eating, sharing a wide-eyed look.

Mabel was confused by their shock and spoke up. "What's happening on Sunday?"

Wendy let out an exasperated sigh. "No, Abuelita. For the hundredth time, I'm not going to church with you."

"Senorita, please! We're worried about you. Let me help you before he can hurt you anymore." She said, reaching out to take Wendy's hand.

"I don't want your fucking help!" Wendy stood up, yanking her hand away. "My life has been going great. But because the guy that's _actually_ helping me is a little weird, you think he's a horrible monster trying to corrupt me."

"If you would just listen," Abuelita pleaded, but Wendy was having none of it.

"To hell with you. I'm done." Wendy walked out of the kitchen, leaving the five Shack residents in stunned silence. The table was quiet for several seconds before Mabel spoke up.

"I don't know about you all, but this girl is stuffed. Wonderful cooking as always, Abuelita. Dipper and I are going to get some fresh air and stretch our legs. Aren't we, Bro-bro?"

"Uh. Yea, that sounds good," said Dipper. He grabbed a piece of cornbread and followed his sister out. She led him into the gift shop and up the ladder to the roof. Neither twin was surprised to find Wendy lying on the rooftop lawn chair, watching the clouds go by in the evening sky. "You okay?"

Wendy looked over at them then back to the sky. "I'm fine. Just a little annoyed."

"You really blew up back there," said Mabel. "That's not like you."

"It's just…" Wendy paused, thinking of the proper words to say. "Ever since I became Aris's student, Abuelita has been on some self-righteous holy quest to _'save my soul'_. She never liked him."

"Maybe she has a good reason for that," said Dipper.

"Don't." Wendy looked straight at Dipper with an unblinking gaze. "I get that the dude can be an asshole, but he's not some psychopathic demon." She sat up and looked down at her lap. "Who am I kidding? It's because of all the secrets I have to keep. No one trusts him, and now they don't trust me. Not even you guys."

"That's not true," cried Mabel. "Of course we trust you."

"Then why did you make a copy of the spell book?"

"Wha… We… We didn't…"

"How did you figure that one out?" asked Dipper.

"Luck mostly," Wendy shrugged. "When Aris and I came to grab his things this morning, your sister was mumbling about us and the book in her sleep. Before we left, Soos asked us to grab him printer paper and ink. Apparently, _someone_ had used it all up the night before. He thought gnomes had gotten inside, but we suspected it was you two. Rune magic requires a lot of energy, so if someone had the book open all night they would be zonked out for a while."

"Wow. You could give the Sibling Brothers a run for their money."

"Like I said, we were lucky. After that, we had an argument. Loud one. Aris eventually relented, and agreed that I should be more open with you." The twins shared a look, not sure they believed what they were hearing.

"Define more open," said Dipper.

"Well, he wants whatever the bare minimum is to keep you safe," pondered Wendy. She turned to the twins with a smile. "But I have authority over the situation, so I will answer any questions you have, fully and truthfully."

"Really?"

"Scouts honor," she said, holding up three fingers on her left hand and placing her right hand over her chest.

"You're not a scout," laughed Mabel. She hopped onto the lawn chair to Wendy's right while Dipper sat down on her left. "Alright, first question missy. Show us magic!" Mabel started bouncing on the chair, barely containing her excitement.

Wendy laughed at the girl's positivity. "That's not a question." Despite this, Wendy rolled up her sleeves and pulled a pair of gloves out of her pocket. When she put one on, it reached up to just under her elbow. The black fabric was smooth and covered with geometric designs, some of which Dipper recognized from the spell book.

"These gloves allow me to cast spells on the fly without drawing a circle," explained Wendy as she put on a second glove. She held up her right palm and focused. With little effort, she made her fingertips spark as a glowing, green circle appear just above her hand. The siblings looked on with awe, amazed at their friend's prowess. "That's just the first step. With practice, you can shape the runes," A square appeared inside the circle along with several symbols. "And then you can cast the spell." Wendy stood up and pointed the circle straight up. With a loud whoosh, a firework shot out of her palm and exploded into purple flames. "Aris does it the same way, except he has the runes tattooed onto his arms."

Dipper was excited to see Wendy's magic in action, but there was something bothering him. "Why did he teach you all this?" he asked.

Wendy sat back down between her friends and thought for a second. "He's never given me a straight answer, but I know it's mainly because of our deal."

"That's not like… you know… one of Bill's deals, is it?" Mabel asked. Her apprehension was clear to the other two teens.

"Not quite," said Wendy, giving the girl a sympathetic smile. "When you make a deal using magic, it acts as a binding contract. Both ends of the deal must be upheld. If one person gets screwed over, they can use the deal against the other person. That's why you have to be specific when making a deal. If you are too broad, then the other person can take advantage of you without consequences." Wendy took off her gloves and placed them back in her pocket.

"Originally, my deal with Aris was pretty straight forward. If I could get him evidence of Gravity Falls' weirdness, he would teach me more about the paranormal. But for some reason, he wanted to keep the deal going. Kept saying I had too much potential or whatever. After two months, Rhaegal Tech's board of directors approved construction of the facility. That's when Aris said he wanted me to be his apprentice."

"And you said yes?" asked Dipper.

"Well, technically I said _'yea, I guess so'_ which was almost enough for him to take back the offer," she chuckled. "But I ended up shaking his hand, and he began teaching me everything he could. Not just magic, but mathematics, physics, chemistry and engineering as well. He even offered to teach me music theory, but I wasn't interested."

"Sounds like you got a pretty good deal. What does Aris get out of it?"

Wendy shrugged. "Not sure. I help with his contraptions from time-to-time, but I also get paid for anything that goes towards RT. He's also practically immortal and doesn't need to worry about passing down his skills."

"Immortal? As in he can't die?" asked Dipper, earning a nod from Wendy.

"Yep. He doesn't age either, but that has downsides. He will never admit it to anyone but me, but Aris is incredibly secretive and antisocial. It's rare for him to show affection to even the few people close to him. Sometimes I think he keeps me around just so he can have a friend."

"That's… really sad," said Mabel.

"Yea," agreed Dipper. "And here we thought he was using you to take over the world or something."

"You don't have to worry about that," said Wendy. "Aris is an anarchist. The dude used to start revolutions as a side hobby." Her phone vibrated, pulling the redhead's attention away from the conversation. "That was my dad. He wants me to head home before it gets dark."

"Can we still ask questions tomorrow?"

"So long as it's just us. I don't need the wrong person overhearing. Abuelita would panic if she knew half the stuff I've told you. I also need to ask a favor."

"Anything. Just name it," Mabel chirped.

"Destroy your copy of the spell book."

"What?!" exclaimed Dipper. "It took us forever to make that thing!"

"Yea," said Mabel. "Why would you even ask us that?"

"Because rune magic is dangerous," stated Wendy, keeping her cool. "You are literally messing with reality when you use it. The slightest mistake could kill you. I once blew my arm off, and Aris had to regrow it. See?" She held out her arms side by side, so the twins could see that the right arm was paler and had fewer freckles than the left arm.

"What if we promise to be REALLY careful?" asked Mabel, nearly begging her friend.

"No. Rune magic has three rules: Don't be evil, don't be stupid, and protect the spell book."

Dipper snorted, looking away from Wendy. "That's ironic."

"Not the point. To let you keep the book would be stupid, because you could get hurt, or worse. And it risks someone else getting a copy, which puts everyone in danger." The twins remained silent, prompting Wendy to take a deep breath. "I know it sucks. But please, please, _PLEASE_ , swear to me you guys with destroy the copy."

"Yea, fine," sighed Dipper.

"I guess we don't have much of a choice," muttered Mabel.

"Thank you," said Wendy as she pulled her friends into a hug. "I'll make it up to you, I promise."

* * *

"So, how we supposed to do this?" asked Mabel. She stood in the attic, staring down at their copy of the spell book. "I don't think the paper shredder will survive a thousand pages."

"I don't know, Mabel." Dipper rubbed his eyes, trying to remain lucid. The exhaustion from casting the intelligence spell was finally catching up to him. The teen was starting to have trouble thinking. "We can toss it in the Bottomless Pit tomorrow. I'm too tired to worry about this right now." Dipper lied down on his bed and slowly drifted off.

Mabel sighed, not sure what to do with the rest of the evening. She tried reading a romance novel, but it wasn't grabbing her interest. She started going through Dipper's things, hoping her brother would have something to quell her boredom. She pulled out his journal, taking a moment to examine the blue cover embroidered with a gold pine tree symbol. The number one Dipper painted on was chipping off, just as Mabel warned him it would. She would be sure to redo it properly later.

Opening the book, Mabel began skimming the various passages. Most of it was written by her brother, but she had added a couple entries of her own. She also did a fair number of the sketches, as Dipper would often ask her to draw while he jotted down notes in his pocket notebook. She tried reading the entry about barf fairies, but grimaced at the memories and turned the page. Further back in the book, she found the entry on Mistress Death. Her depiction of Death's facial markings was most likely inaccurate, as Mabel had to draw it from memory. It was one of their scariest encounters, so much so that the twins avoided talking about her more so than even Bill Cipher. As Mabel critiqued her work from the previous summer, a small part of her wanted to visit the woman. The mistress was a thing of beauty despite her morbid existence. If Mabel could just see that face again, then she could try to recreate it properly.

Mabel slammed the book shut, shaking her head free of the crazy thoughts. "Get a hold of yourself, girl." The unpleasant emptiness was starting to return. Mabel put the journal back and went downstairs; hoping to find anything that could distract her till the feeling went away.

* * *

Mabel examined the chess board, trying to determine which piece to move. She picked up the bishop, and moved it three spaces to capture Dipper's rook. In response, Dipper moved his knight.

"Checkmate," he said.

"What?!" Mabel tried to find any possible saving move, but there were none. "Fine. How long was that?"

"Twenty-three moves. You are getting better."

"I guess," sighed Mabel. She lied back on the grass and checked her phone for the time. The twins still had ten minutes before they could confidently say the spell book was gone forever. They had awoken early so they could throw it into the Bottomless Pit before tourist started showing up at the Mystery Shack. Of course, there was the chance that whatever you threw into the pit would be spat right back out. Experience stated that anything that didn't come back in the first thirty minutes most likely never coming back. After twenty-four hours, the item was gone forever. To make good use of their time, Dipper brought a chess set to play a safe distance from the pit till the half-hour mark passed.

"Come on," said Dipper, placing the pieces. "You play white this time." Begrudgingly, his sister sat up and moved one of her pawns. They had made it about ten moves into the game before they heard someone approaching.

"Why are you leading us out here? You know how much I loathe that thing."

"Would ya calm down? It's not like a freak wind storm is going to push you down there."

The Pines twins shot up at Wendy's voice, curious as to why she was visiting the Bottomless Pit.

"There you guys are," said Wendy, waving to them. "Soos said I might find you out here."

"Hey Wendy!" cheered Mabel. "What are you doing here?"

"Just thought I would check up on you two before I head off."

"You dragged me all the way out to the pit so you could say hi?" Aris grumbled.

"Yes. I did," stated Wendy. Aris rolled his eyes at her and took a few extra steps away from the pit. Wendy turned back to her friends. "What did you throw in?"

"Our spell book copy," answered Dipper. "We figured it would be best to get rid of it as soon as possible."

"Thanks. Nice to know I can count on you." Wendy smiled at the twins and they smiled back. She wanted to give them a bear hug for throwing away their work for her. She almost did, but her mentor ruined the moment.

"That's not going to work," Aris yelled, leaning against a nearby tree. "Paper is not massive enough to go through a temporal anomaly. It always bounces back."

"That only applies to junk mail!" Mabel shouted back before sticking her tongue out at the man.

Aris let out a groan and rubbed his temples. He walked over to the teens, trying to keep calm. "It's nice to know that Stanford's so-called sense of genius is hereditary."

"Hey! You leave our uncle out of this," said Dipper, quick to jump to his family's defense. "And how the hell would you know anyways?"

"I've read his journals, kid. I wouldn't exactly call them page turners."

"What? When did you-?"

"Red showed them to me when we first met."

The twins turned to Wendy with disapproving looks.

"I needed proof of Gravity Falls' weirdness," Wendy said sheepishly. "The journals were all I had."

"You could have told us," scolded Dipper.

"Go easy on her," said Aris. "We made a deal and we both followed though. I'm sure you are aware that's how it works." He let out a light chuckle, making the twins grimace.

"Is being overly creepy a requirement for immortals or something?" asked Mabel.

Airs's smile dropped. He gave Wendy a angry glare. _**"How much did you tell them?"**_

"Don't start." Wendy crossed her arm, staring back at her mentor. "You said you trusted me with my friends."

 _ **"We also asked you to use discretion."**_ Aris closed his eyes and took a deep breath, unclenching his fist. "Fine. It is done. I will not say anything. But company business stays between us. Last thing I need is the Board breathing down my neck." He turned away and walked back to previous spot by the tree.

"Don't mind him. His bark is worse than his bite," Wendy said.

"I'll say," piped Mabel. "What kind of anarchist is worried about what his boss thinks?"

"I'm surprised he even has a boss," said Dipper.

Wendy took off her Marvel hat and pulled her hair back. She then made a fake pout, trying to imitate her mentor's expression. "That's a gross oversimplification," she said in an comically deep voice. All three teens broke out in a fit of laughter till a green lightning bolt flew over their heads.

"If you are going to make fun of a person," spat Aris, "it helps if they are not within ear shot of the joke." He looked away from them, his eyes taking on a hypnotic glaze.

"You were right about the asshole part, too," whispered Dipper. "Why do you hang out with him again?"

"As shocking as it may sound, Aris a good teacher. The dude just needs to learn how to lighten up." Wendy looked over to the pale man. "You hear that? Start taking some chill pills," she shouted, but Aris didn't respond. He didn't even appear to hear her. "Oh, not this again."

"What's wrong with him?" asked Mabel.

"It's nothing. I'll tell you about it later. Just give me a second to snap him out of it." Wendy began walking to her mentor, but she stopped when the sky turned dark. Looking up, she saw hundreds of papers filling the sky. Following their path, she could tell that they had come out of the Bottomless Pit.

"Would you look at that," said Aris, responsive once again. "I was right." He lifted his hand into the air, and summoned the green sparks from his fingers. With the spell, he pulled the papers to him as he walked towards the Pines twins. By the time he was in front of them, all of the papers from their spell book were neatly stacked in his hand.

"I'm a little disappointed in you," he said. " _ **The persistence of nature, the spirit of the stars**_ , but yet you gave up so easily." Aris paused, his snake slit eyes giving off a thoughtful look. _**"Why?"**_

Mabel spoke up first. "Because Wendy asked us to." She looked to her brother for confidence, and was met with a smile. "And when you make a promise to a friend, you always follow through."

"That was cheesy as all hell," Aris frowned, his eyes returning to normal. "But I admire your loyalty. Perhaps, you will be useful after all." The man held out both hands with the stack of papers between them. Sparks began to fly from his palms and the stack began to compress itself into a more manageable size. There was a bright flash, forcing the twins to shield their eyes. When they opened them, Aris was holding a new spell book. It looked identical to the original in every way, with the only difference being the leather had a green tint instead of red. He turned to his student and tossed her the book. "Here you go."

Wendy caught the book, eyes wide with surprise. "Wait, what?"

"Happy birthday, we're leaving," he said and started walking back to the Shack.

Wendy didn't move. "Wait… WHAT?"

"I said let's go! Oh," Aris paused and looked back at Mabel and Dipper. "Try to stay out of trouble. I'll be watching you." He gave them a fanged grin before turning away again.

Wendy was still shocked that she had been given her own spell book, but was able to once again form sentences. "I'll talk to you guys later?"

"You know where to find us," said Dipper, trying to hide his own bewilderment.

"Awesome," said Wendy, and then she ran off. "Hey! Wait for me!"

Mabel and Dipper stood in silence for a few minutes trying to process everything that had happened. Everything was normal, till Aris decided to create an entire spell book in a literal flash. Then there was the whole double voice and slit eyes thing. He even referred to them as _nature_ and _stars_ , which almost felt déjà vu.

"What was all that about?" asked Mabel.

"Don't know, sister." Dipper took off his pine tree hat and scratched his scalp. "I will never understand immortals."

* * *

 **00000**

* * *

 **Oh sweet jeezus** , I actually got this thing posted. I've been sitting on this for a week now, not getting a chance to edit it. And that was after an entire rewrite. Trying to fit in both writing and drawing time with a new full time job _**SUCKS**_! Not to mention my job is hell, but when you got bills to pay...

 **...**

Ever get one of those ideas that you feel could make your work better, but you are already committed to the current path and turning back would be harder than throwing away months of work and starting over? I've had a couple of those lately. Oh well...

As always, thanks for reading. All comments and crits are welcome. Feel free to PM me with ideas and random chat BS


	5. Fall From Grace

The following week was uneventful at the Mystery Shack. It was only the first week of summer, so business was still slow. Soos had the twins spend most of the time in-between tourist visits cleaning and reorganizing the souvenir shop. The rest of their down time was spent reading or playing board games.

Dipper had made sure to keep up on the chess games, even though Mabel was starting to lose interest. She was of the mindset that if Aris could create physical matter with such little effort, then it wasn't hard to believe that his magic could turn her into a super genius. But she gave into Dipper's insistence, as she was somewhat curious as to how long it would take her to become a super genius. Sure enough, everyday Mabel's chess skills were better than the day before. As the week went on, she became a real challenge for her brother. By Saturday, she won.

"Checkmate," said Mabel.

Dipper gazed wide-eyed at the board, not sure if he believed what he saw. "You… you beat me."

"Yep."

The boy sighed, his head low. "Alright. Go ahead and do your victory dance. Rub my face in it"

"No. I won't do that to you." Instead of the giant grin and obnoxious laughter Dipper was expecting, his sister gave him a small, almost sad smile and stood up. "I'll be in the attic."

Dipper watched his sister leave then rubbed his chin. Her behavior for the past week was somewhat bewildering. She still acted like Mabel, but everything was toned down. At times it almost felt artificial, as if she was only pretending to be the energetic, glitter-fueled lightning bolt he had grown up with. Mabel was also changing her style. She was wearing her sweaters less, and had yet to make a new one since they arrived in Gravity Falls. Then there was that weird moment when Mabel asked to borrow Dipper's CD collection. It was mostly modern rock albums with some mainstream pop mixed in, both of which Mabel loathed. She was always into old-school rock; or so Dipper thought until he overheard her singing along to Destroying Darrel in the shower. Mabel listening to emo music was as big of a red flag as it gets. But when he confronts her about these changes, she just shrugs it off saying, "I haven't felt like it," or, "I guess they grew on me."

Dipper continued to ponder as he put away the chess pieces. His thoughts were interrupted when Soos walked in.

"I need you two to nail up these signs for me. Hey, where did the other one go?"

"Upstairs… Has Mabel been acting unusual lately?"

Soos scratched at his chin stubble. "I don't know, dude. She hasn't been as loud as usual. But then again, maybe she's just becoming more mature. That's a thing most teens do, right?"

"But what about her sweaters? I rarely see Mabel without one, and we _freaking_ live together!" Dipper started pacing around the gift shop, pulling at his hair. "And I'm pretty sure I saw her trying on black eye shadow yesterday. Mabel trying black!"

"Whoa, whoa!" Soos grabbed Dipper by his shoulder to get his attention. "Calm down there, bro. I'm sure she's fine. It's been a hot year, so be grateful that your sister isn't putting herself at risk for heatstroke. And if she wants to try new things, you got to let her. That's how people grow."

"You're right," Dipper sighed, "as usual."

"Of course I am. I'm Mr. Mystery," Soos said. "Unless Mabel has been affected by some magical, paranormal, or otherwise weird object slash event. Then her sudden changes would be something to be extremely worried about."

Dipper had to fight to keep a straight face as the realization came over him. There was one weird thing the twins had encountered, and they were stupid enough to mess with it.

"Nope, nothing so far," Dipper smiled.

"Good to hear. Now go nail up these signs."

* * *

 _ **The boy is hiding something.**_

 _What gave it away? The obviously forced smile or the panic that flashed just before it?_

 _ **No need to get snippy with me.**_

 _Sorry. I'm still annoyed with myself. One slip up and I'm stuck with another set of problems to deal with._

 _ **Do you know which spell could have caused such a shift in behavior?**_

 _Any of the mind altering spells could, if not preformed correctly._

 _ **Are you sure? Most of those were never tested.**_

 _That's exactly why I'm sure. It's just a matter of figuring out which one they used._

 _ **We may have to wait till the girl becomes more drastically altered.**_

 _If we wait that long I will have to go into her mindscape._ Alone _. I don't know enough about that dimension._

 _ **Then I don't have long to teach you.**_

 _No offence, but you're not exactly a mindscape master either._

 _ **I am the only resource you have, unless you feel like resurrecting the dead.**_

 _Fair enough._

* * *

Dipper opened the attic door to find his sister knitting on her bed. He was somewhat relieved to see her working on one of her hobbies, but didn't like the black yarn she was using. He figured it was a step in the right direction.

"Mom and Dad called. They will be here Monday afternoon. And they are bringing Waddles with them." Dipper added that last part in, hoping to raise the excitement in Mabel. She loved that pig, sometimes more than what seemed healthy.

"Okay," said Mabel. She didn't look up from her project.

"What are you knitting," spoke Dipper, starting to get desperate.

"I'm making a new sweater."

"A black sweater?"

"It's storm cloud grey. You want one?"

Instead on answering, Dipper walked over and placed his hand on his sister's. She gave him a puzzled look, which he met with a serious tone. "We need to talk."

"What's there to talk about?" she asked.

"Mabel, I'm worried about you. I think that spell affected you more than we thought."

"What do you mean? I'm smarter. I learn faster. That's what supposed to happen."

"I'm talking about your personality," Dipper said. "You haven't been yourself lately."

"Damn it, Dipper. Not this again. I'm fine." Mabel rolled her eyes.

"I'm serious, Mabel. You have been different since we performed the spell. And it's not just your personality. Your attitude, your entire sense of style, it's all different. Not a lot, but enough for people to notice."

Mabel's eye slowly grew angry. She gave Dipper a light shove, warning him to back up. "Is that a bad thing?" She stood up to face her brother at eye level. "You've never had a problem with me before, but all of a sudden you seem to think I'm going crazy. What? Did I stray too far from the box you drew out for me?"

"Mabel…" Dipper was struggling to keep his composure, but he had to. For her. "Mabel, I'm just concerned about your health. Maybe we should go talk to Aris. Make sure we didn't mess up."

"Oh, I see what this is about now."

"What?"

"You're jealous."

"Mabel! That is not true."

"Yes it is! For once in my life, I'm better than you at something. But because you can't stand me being on top, you want to go running your mouth and take it away from me!" Mabel was on the verge of tears, and Dipper didn't know how to react.

"Mabel, please. You are talking nonsense. Let's just call up Wendy, and we can-"

"Fuck you, Mason," Mabel spat. She shoved past her brother and stomped down the steps. Dipper stayed put, too shocked to follow.

Now he was one-hundred percent sure something was wrong with Mabel. The idea that he was better at everything was the most nonsensical thing Dipper had ever heard come out of his sister's mouth. And she had _never once_ spoken to him with such venomous hate, much less with his real name. Now it was just a question of whether or not he could save her before their relationship fell apart. Or worse.

* * *

 _ **That was unexpected.**_

 _I'll say. Did she say that she learns faster?_

 _ **I believe so. Perhaps they used the spell for increased intelligence and comprehension.**_

 _Fucking hell, I hope not._

 _ **What makes you say that?**_

 _I cannot reverse the effects of that spell without the risk of completely handicapping her. It's why I never used it. I try to undo that spell; she could end up in a coma._

 _ **Which means you would have to lessen the effects from within her mindscape.**_

 _Yes._

 _ **Then we should get started on your education.**_

Aris placed the rune-engraved orb back on his desk and stood up. With a snap of his fingers, the various candles around the room ignited with a warm, green glow. Sitting down in the middle of the floor, he crossed his legs and went into a meditative state.

* * *

Mabel kept her composure as she left the Mystery Shack. As soon as she was out of earshot however, she broke down. She sprinted as fast as she could, hot tears blurring her vision. She didn't care where she went, so long as it was away from other people. After a few minutes, she slowed to a walk and eventually stopped. Leaning against a tree, Mabel tried to wipe the tears from her eyes, but she felt too broken to stop crying. Exhaustion began to take hold, and the girl slid down the trunk. After a few more deep sobs, Mabel fell asleep with only the rustling leaves to comfort her.

* * *

Mabel walked through the ruined town alone. All she could see were decrepit buildings, many of which were half destroyed and on the verge of collapse. It reminded her of a war zone, similar to the ones you see in those old World War Two photos. None of this bothered her. The only thing that seemed to agitate Mabel was the wind. While most would enjoy the sounds of a light, cooling breeze, it only sent chills up the girl's spine. Every time the wind blew, she could swear she was hearing the echoes of the damned. They were whispering in her ear, begging her for mercy despite having left this world long ago.

 **"This is your fault."** Mabel turned around to see a girl with long, brown hair wearing a sweater.

"I know," Mabel responded, looking down at the cracked pavement. Without warning, the wind began to pick up speed, and the voices grew louder with it. Mabel covered her ears as the whispers turned into screams of agony. She could recognize some of the screams as belonging to her loved ones. Her friends and family were crying out for her help, but there was nothing Mabel could do.

"I'm sorry!" she cried out, falling to her knees. "I'm sorry! Please! I never wanted this to happen!" Tears flowed freely from Mabel's eyes as the screams became deafening. She felt someone grab her arm and the wind died down as fast as it grew. Looking up, Mabel saw it was the girl with the sweater. The girl was a near perfect mirror image of herself, with the mirror girl being skinnier and appearing deathly ill.

"Thank you," Mabel said.

 **"Come with me."** The mirror girl pulled Mabel to her feet and began to lead her though the town by the hand.

As they walked, Mabel began to notice a strange numbness consume her. First, it ate away at her sadness, and then her fear, her happiness, and her anger. It was an unusual sensation, but a welcomed one. The whispers were no longer making her anxious, and the mirror girl was less depressing to look at. They continued to walk, and Mabel's mind began to wander.

"Will they ever forgive me?" The mirror girl gave her a short glance before responding.

" **They will try, but they will never forgive you completely."**

"Why not?" Mabel frowned, her sadness beginning to creep back in.

" **You hurt them. Sacrificed them. You don't deserve their forgiveness."**

Mabel was quiet for several minutes, trying to contemplate what she had been told. The identical girls had made it out of town and into the woods before she spoke again.

"What about Dipper?"

" **You hurt him."**

"But I love him. We're the Mystery Twins. We always have each other's back!"

" **Then why do you continue to hurt him?"**

"I… I don't… I never…" Mabel tried to come up with a response, but there was none. Was the mirror girl right? Was she hurting Dipper without realizing it? What about the rest of her family? Was she hurting them, too? Could she fix it?

" **We are almost there,"** the mirror girl said, breaking Mabel out of her train of thought.

Mabel saw that they had been on an uphill path. She recognized it as the one that ended with a cliff that overlooked the town. After a few more minutes, Mabel saw the edge of said cliff. The mirror girl continued to lead her to the edge, not letting go of her hand. Mabel did nothing to stop the girl, resigning to let the numbness consume her again. The identical girls continued their march until they walked over the ledge and fell to the earth below.

* * *

Mabel took in a deep breath of air, trying to remember where she was. The first thing she noticed was the rustle of leaves in the wind. The breeze was light and comforting, as the voices that accompanied it were gone. The girl ran her hand across the ground, feeling the grain of the soil and the bumpy paths that flowed along the tree bark. As her mind became more aware of reality, the memories started to flood in. Mabel yelled at Dipper.

No, she didn't yell. She snapped at him. Spat venom at her twin brother. Her other half. Dipper was concerned for her wellbeing, and she hurt him for it. Whether or not his concern was valid didn't matter. He wanted to help, even though she probably didn't deserve it.

Mabel stood up, using the tree to steady herself. The guilt of her overreaction filled her gut, leaving her heart feeling numb. With her head down, Mabel retraced her path back to the Mystery Shack. Wendy was there to greet her when she opened the gift shop door.

"Hey, Mabel's back. Dipper has been freaking out about you," she said.

"Yea, sorry about that. How long was I gone?"

"I don't know. I just got here an hour ago," Wendy shrugged. She glanced at the clock. "It's only four, so you couldn't have been gone that long."

"Okay. Um, where's Dipper at?" Mabel asked, sounding slightly nervous.

"He's somewhere around here. I last saw him in the kitchen."

"Thanks." Mabel began to run off, but Wendy stopped her.

"Hey, Mabel," she said, grabbing the younger girl's attention. "Is there anything I should know about? A lot of people are worried about you."

Mabel sighed, but tried to contain her annoyance. "No. I'm fine. Dipper is just paranoid."

Wendy wasn't convinced, but dropped the subject. "Alright. But if you ever need to vent, you know who to talk to," she smiled. "We tough girls gotta stick together." Wendy pretended to shoot Mabel with finger guns, causing the girl to smile.

"Thanks, Wendy," she said. Mabel returned the gesture then ran off to find her brother.

The girl ran between the rooms on the first floor, trying to find Dipper. She didn't find him, so she ran up the steps to check the second floor. She was about halfway through her search when Mabel turned a corner and ran straight into Dipper.

"Oof!" both twins cried, falling back onto their butts.

Dipper rubbed his head before looking up. "Mabel!"

"Hey Dip-dop," said Mabel. "I'm back."

"Where did you go? I was worried sick about you," he said, standing up with his sister's help.

"Would you relax? I just went for a walk. Took a nap under a tree. That kind of thing."

"Oh… Look, about earlier-"

"I'm sorry."

"Things got out of hand and… wait what?" Dipper stopped talking, raising an eyebrow at his sister.

"I said I'm sorry," said Mabel. "I shouldn't have snapped at you. You were just looking out for me. And in return I said some dumb and hurtful things."

Dipper blinked a few times, somewhat surprised by how calm Mabel was being. They have both needed to apologize in the past, but Mabel was usually more emotional about it. "Okay. I forgive you. Everything's cool," he smiled.

"No, it's not cool." Mabel broke eye contact, looking down at her feet. "I always do stupid shit like this."

"Mabel... It's okay. We can work this out." Dipper reached out to her shoulder, but she pulled away from his touch.

"It's not okay, Mason," she said, her voice sad yet calm. "I always do this. I can't keep hurting you. I'm trying to be better but…" She paused, not sure how to continue.

"Mabel?"

The girl took a deep breath and meet Dipper's gaze with watery eyes. "What if it's too late? What if I've already pushed you away?"

Dipper didn't respond right away. He instead reached out once again, and when Mabel didn't pull away he pulled her into a hug. "There is nothing you could do that could push me way." And with that, Mabel broke down. She tried to stop the tears, to seem stronger, but it was too much. She wept into Dipper's shoulder, never wanting to let go of her closest friend.

Dipper simply held his sister, letting her get everything out. She was his only focus until he finally looked up. At the far end of the hallway, he saw Wendy with her casting gloves on. Their eyes locked for a moment, before Wendy gave him a thumbs-up and walked away.

* * *

"Alright, you called it. Something is bothering Mabel." Wendy said into her phone. After listening in on Dipper and Mabel with some enhanced hearing, she decided to call up her mentor. It was _his_ idea to spy on the twins after all. So she asked Soos for a quick break and sat down on the porch couch.

"I don't think 'bothering' is the right word. That girl is broken," said Aris. Judging by the sounds papers in the background, Wendy guessed he was looking for something in his office/living space.

"Don't call her that. And how the hell would you know anyways?" Wendy scolded.

"I overheard them earlier. The twins talked about performing a mind spell on Stardust."

"Uh-hu," Wendy was skeptical, but you never knew with this guy. "How exactly did you listen to them from the other side of town? You would go deaf from hearing everything in Gravity Falls at the same time."

"New spell technique. Works quite well, too. I'll show you sometime." Aris began mumbling something that Wendy couldn't make out before speaking up again. "Ah! Found it. Anyways, I need you to maintain vigilance on those two, especially Stardust."

"Don't call her that, either," Wendy interrupted, but Aris ignored her.

"If my presumptions are correct, she doesn't have long before… well… let's try not to think about that part."

"Aris." Wendy didn't like it when her mentor held out on her. "What's wrong with Mabel?"

There was a sigh on the other end of the line. "I'm not sure, Red. If my presumptions are correct, Mabel only has a few days before her brain has a catastrophic failure."

"W-What does that mean?"

"It could mean a lot of things. Coma, loss of motor skills, loss of comprehension. By what you described, I'm thinking something is wrong with her emotional processes. Best case scenario…" Aris trailed off, not wanting to finish his sentence.

"Please tell me."

"Best case scenario, she develops a severe mental illness like depression or bipolar disorder. If I can't figure out how to fix her in time, there is a good chance she will attempt suicide."

Wendy dropped her head into her free hand. There was a brief flash of panic, but she took a deep breath to collect herself. She was ice, cool and collected under pressure. She was on full alert. Wendy would do whatever it took to protect her best friends. "I won't let that happen."

"Be careful, Red," warned Aris. "This is new territory for me, and I'm willing to bet the same for you. Don't cause a panic. Contain the situation as best you can, and call on me if there is an emergency you can't handle."

"Will do, boss. Talk to you later."

* * *

Mabel went to bed early that night. She didn't go to sleep, instead resigning to just lay there. Dipper was by no means a psychologist, but most would be able to see that the girl was emotionally exhausted. He left her alone. If she didn't want to talk at the moment, he wouldn't try to force her.

The next morning, Mabel and Dipper walked down the steps to be greeted by an unusual sight. In the kitchen, the twins found Wendy cooking pancakes. Judging by the aroma that filled the room, they were some damn good pancakes, too.

"Wendy? What are you doing here?" Dipper asked.

"You cook?" asked Mabel, sharing her brother's confused look.

"Hey, morning you two," said Wendy. She smiled at the twins over her shoulder, appearing cheerier than normal. "If you guys didn't have any plans for the day, I figured we could go exploring together. The Mystery Shack will be closed, and we haven't had a chance to hang out yet." The redhead grabbed four plates from the cabinet, one for the pancakes and one each for them. "So, what'cha say? You dudes up for a little paranormal action?"

"Yea," smiled Dipper. "That sounds great." He sat down at the table and took one of the plates.

"Sure, I guess I could use the fresh air." Mabel sat down across from her brother, wearing a sad smile that was becoming all too common for her. Both of her fellow teens noticed, but neither spoke up.

Dipper took a bite first, his eyes widening at the taste. "Wow. These are awesome. Where did you even learn to cook this good?"

"My dad taught me the basics," she said, amused by Dipper chowing down. "From there, I just look up any recipes I need. Never really enjoyed it, but I'm willing to break out the pots and pans for a special occasion."

"So what's the occasion?"

"My two best buds are back in town. That seems pretty special to me."

The three teens finished their breakfast quickly, as even Mabel seemed eager to go on another adventure. Once the dishes were cleaned, the twins rushed upstairs to shower and get dressed. Wendy waited outside, not wanting a run-in with Abuelita on Sunday morning.

* * *

Dipper, Mabel, and Wendy had been wandering the forest for a few hours. So far, they had little luck in finding anything new, but that didn't bother Dipper. He was more than happy to take the chance to ask Wendy as many questions about her mentor as he could think of.

"How old is Aris?" asked Dipper, pulling out his notepad and a pencil.

"Never asked him," Wendy shrugged. "He did once mention something about meeting Leonardo da Vinci, so at least that old."

"Okay. What about the double voice thing? What's that about?"

"That's a weird one. There is a celestial being living inside his head. That's why Aris is so powerful. One of the RT engineers said that when something grabs the brain worm's attention, it will talk in sync with Aris."

"Brain worm?"

"That's our nickname for it. Aris never talks about these things to anyone, so we have to come up our own names for everything. Apparently, only the people on the Board can say for sure."

Mabel scrunched her eyebrows in thought before speaking up. "Wendy? You do know that your mentor dude is the weirdest thing to ever happen to Gravity Falls?"

"I wouldn't say the weirdest, but I get your point."

The three of them continued on like this, with Dipper jotting down Wendy's answers and Mabel jumping in when she felt the need to.

"Where does he live?"

"At the facility. Aris has a big office, so he set up a cot in there."

"Could you show us the facility?"

"No. I'm not allowed inside without his supervision."

"Has anyone else looked into Aris?"

"I doubt it. The facility brought a lot of growth to the local economy. That, and the fact that most people like to ignore the weirdness… I think everyone is more than happy to let Aris be, as long as he doesn't cause another apocalypse."

"What's Gateway?"

"I can't answer that. Which reminds me, do you two have a copy of Aris's work journal?"

The twins shared a look, not wanting to answer. "Is that really what's important here?" asked Mabel, trying to play off the question.

"I'm going to need that," said Wendy. "Don't ask why."

"Fine," said Dipper. He coughed, "teacher's pet," afterwards, making Mabel giggle and Wendy roll her eyes.

"Just get on with the questions, Dipstick," said Wendy.

"Okay. Can you create matter like Aris?"  
"Not without hurting myself. I know the spell, but my body doesn't have the energy required for something that intense."

"What's with the motorcycle?"

"He said it reminds him of when he rode horses before the industrial revolution. It's also cool looking, so I'm not complaining."

That last comment grabbed Mabel's attention. She jumped in with her own question before Dipper could ask another. "Is he hot?"

"Ye-HEY!" Wendy's face grew redder than her hair, while her eyes were somewhere between embarrassment and fury.

"Run, Dipper!" Mabel shouted. Both twins took off, laughing along the way.

Wendy took to the chase. She wasn't angry, per say. She knew their hijinks were in good fun. That didn't mean she couldn't get some revenge. Despite the redhead's best efforts, she couldn't catch the Pines Twins. Wendy had no problem keeping up, but they were constantly just outside her grasp. So she resorted to her backup plan: magic. Wendy pulled out her casting gloves and slipped them on. With a little concentration, a green circle appeared on each of her palms. She pointed them at her friends and the twins began to float off the ground. It took them a second to realize what was happening, but it was clear when they saw Wendy with her hands out.

"Hey!" shouted Mabel. "That's cheating!"

"Give it up Mabel," said Dipper. "She's enjoying this too much."

Wendy laughed at them. "You know it. Now, about my payback."

The twins gulped. "Let's talk this out," Dipper stammered. "No need to make any rash decisions."

"Yea, what he said," said Mabel.

Wendy thought for a second before giving a mischievous smile. "Tell me one of your deep, dark secrets, and I'll put you down."

"I have a crush on Pacifica Northwest," Dipper blurted out. Both girls looked at him in slight shock. They didn't believe it at first, but his blushing didn't lie.

"That was quick," said Wendy.

"Yea, whatever. Now put me down." Wendy did as he requested, lowering him gently to the ground.

"Paz? You have a thing for Paz?" Mabel asked skeptically. "You two are always butting heads."

"Maybe I have a thing for blondes."

Mabel scoffed. "Jesse is Cuban. You can't fool me, oh dearest brother."

"Who's Jesse?" asked Wendy.

"My ex-girlfriend. Look… Just don't say anything to Pacifica, okay?"

"Okay," Wendy shrugged.

"I make no promises," said Mabel. Wendy gave her grim look before shaking her a bit.

"Quiet you. It's your turn to spill."

"Aaaaaahh! You're making me dizzy!" Mabel waited for the queasiness to fade before answering. "Okay. I kinda, sorta, maybe have a thing for-"

"LOOK OUT!" Dipper dived into Wendy, causing them to fall. A blazing fireball flew over their heads, igniting the leaves. "What is that thing?"

Wendy looked up to see a red and black lizard about five feet in length clinging to a tree trunk. Its appearance was similar to a bearded dragon, but with longer claws and a much more ferocious looking face. "Looks like a fire bolt lizard, but… I've never seen one so massive!"

The lizard's body slowly became bloated, then suddenly deflated again as it spat another fireball at them. Unable to roll out of the way, Wendy formed a shield spell to protect her and Dipper. "We need to get out of here," said Wendy. As the two teens stood up, a painful yelp caught their attention.

A few yards away, Mabel was trying to stand up. Unfortunately, she fell some distance when Wendy lost her concentration, leaving Mabel with a broken ankle. She tried to stand again, only to fall sideways. She cried out, this time drawing the attention of the giant lizard. It inflated its body, and then spat a fireball at the helpless girl.

"Mabel!" Dipper screamed, but Wendy was on it.

Using her magic, she dashed forward the short distance to Mabel. With her arms out, she shielded her friend from the blast as the fireball impacted with her back. Wendy let out a short yell as the pain forced her down onto one knee.

"Wendy!" cried Mabel.

"It's cool, dude. I got you," said Wendy though gritted teeth. She then fell forward with a yell as another fireball struck her back. The redhead turned around to blast the lizard, but stopped herself at the sight of Dipper fighting it.

The boy had on hand around the lizards face, holding its jaw shut. In his other hand, he held a Swiss Army knife with the blade out. The lizard struggled to escape, even managing to claw at Dipper's legs and torso. But Dipper was done with it, and began to stab at the lizard. He attacked the reptile over and over with the knife till it finally stopped moving and he could push the body away.

"Holy shit, Dipper," said Wendy, stunned by what she had just witnessed.

"It… It was hurting you," the boy shuddered. "I-I-I had to do… something. And I- I tried to scare it off, but… but it wouldn't leave so…"

"Nice work, man-Aurgh!" Wendy tried to stand up, but fell back to her knees. Her back was mostly covered in burns and parts of her undershirt had melted to her skin. Any attempts at moving sent waves of agony though her spine. "I might need some help getting back to the Shack."

"But Mabel can't walk. I can't carry both of you."

"Then leave me," said Mabel.

"Are you crazy? I'm not leaving my wounded sister alone in the woods."

"It's my fault we're in this mess," she retorted, glaring at Dipper. "So you are going to get Wendy help, and leave me here."

Wendy sighed. "Mabel. Shut up and give me your leg."

"But you need-"

"Now, Mabel!" The brunette girl complied. Mabel scooted across the dirt till her broken ankle was within Wendy's reach. "Thank you." Wendy placed her hand on Mabel's injury and focused. After a few seconds, she removed it. "There. It's not completely fixed, but you should be able to limp home without help." Sure enough, Mabel stood up with little trouble. Her ankle still hurt like hell, but she was mobile.

The three teens made their way through the forest, Mabel limping along and Wendy using Dipper for support. The walk back to the Mystery Shack was bound to take a while, so Wendy took the chance to call her mentor for help.

"Hey, Aris. Umm…. Any chance you could come heal me and my friends?... We were exploring when… yes… yes… I don't need you lecturing me right now… No, it's not that bad. Everyone is still alive… I have some burns on my back and Mabel has a messed up ankle. Dipper got away with a few scratches… Fire bolt lizard. Big one… We're heading to the Mystery Shack now… no, you can meet us there… Yes, trust me. I'm tougher than that… *sigh* yes, I know… alright… alright, thanks."

After the call, the three friends continued in silence. It wasn't the peaceful kind of silence. Everyone felt like something needed to be said, but no one wanted to be the first to bite the bullet. Wendy, to her credit, was too busy trying to fight back the pain. It was hard enough to talk to Aris with a straight face while nursing severe injuries. She wasn't going to burst the metaphorical bubble while the silence was helping her focus. Dipper almost spoke up a few times, but the words always got caught in his throat. He wasn't sure how to phrase his thoughts and eventually just gave up. Mabel just wanted to forget. The guilt for putting her friends in danger weighed heavily on her, and she prayed that neither said anything, at least till they were safe.

They were only about five minutes from the Shack when rock music started playing.

 _ **I remember lying in my bed**_

 _ **I remember the mark on my hand**_

 _ **Never ever wanted this to be**_

 _ **I am half of what I used to be**_

"That's Aris calling," said Wendy. Mabel pulled the cellphone out of Wendy's back pocket and handed it to her. "Hello… She what?! We're almost there! Hang on!" Wendy hung up and handed her phone back to Mabel. "Abuelita is holding Aris at gunpoint. We need to move it." The twins didn't question her, and speed up as best they could. They had the Mystery Shack in their sights when a loud bang roared through the air. The three teens froze in place.

"No," Wendy whispered. A second bang rang out and she took off to its source, not worrying about her own wellbeing. When she turned the corner to the porch, she froze.

Abuelita had a double barrel shotgun pointed as Aris, who was holding the barrels in his right hand. The terrifying part was that Aris had no face. Abuelita had shot him pointblank, leaving a large, gory hole in his head and blood splattered across the grass. Wendy was about to cry when Aris began to heal. It was a grotesque sight, watching the veins, bone, and skin all grow back into place, but Wendy found it fascinating.

Once he was complete healed, Aris ripped the shotgun out of Abuelita's hands. "That was painful," he said, gazing daggers into the old lady. "Not to mention rude."

"That was amazing," said Wendy, drawing the attention of everyone on the porch. She took one step before the agony became too much to bear. The shock overwhelmed her brain, and she blacked out.

* * *

When Wendy woke up, she was sprawled out on the couch in the Mystery Shack living room. It was unusually dark, with the only substantial light spilling in from the hallway. She took a moment to examine herself, and was relieved by the lack of pain in her body. She was a bit perturbed that her shirt was gone, replaced by purple sweater that was too large for her thin frame. Wendy tried sitting up, only to be knocked back down by the pulsing behind her eyes.

"Aris said you need to rest," said Mabel. Only then did Wendy notice the twins sitting with their backs to the couch. They looked back at her with a mix of concern and guilt.

"Yea, well he can shove it. Dipper, little help?" Wendy sat up slowly, as to not make herself dizzy.

"No?" Dipper said, raising an eyebrow. "You're lucky you are not in the hospital right now."

"Fine, I'll do it myself." Wendy stood up. At first she was stable, but became disoriented when she tried to walk. Unable to stay balanced, the girl fell down.

"Wendy!" Dipper shouted. The twins tried to catch her, but were not quick enough. "You can't force yourself like that." Mabel and Dipper each took one of Wendy's arms to help her stand up. They had sat her back down on the couch when Manly Dan rushed in.

"Wendy! Are you-OW!" Manly Dan hit his head on the doorframe, but shook it off. He ducked though the doorway to check on his daughter. "Are you alright?"

"Do try to be careful, Daniel," Aris sighed, following the burly man. "I can't afford healing myself into a coma right now."

Manly Dan knelt down in front of his daughter, worry lacing his voice, but Wendy laughed it off.

"I'm fine, Dad. You raised me to be a survivor."

Manly Dan smiled at her. "That's my girl," he chuckled. "Did you give that lizard a good ol' Corduroy roughing up?"

"I wanted to, but Dipper here beat me to the punch." Wendy gently nudged her friend, to which he tried to play it off.

"It was nothing. I was just trying to protect my friends," he said sheepishly.

"I knew you had some fight in you," Dan said, giving out a hardy laugh. "You're growing up to be a fine, young man." Dipper tried to not grin too much. He never saw Manly Dan as more than the somewhat odd lumberjack of Gravity Falls, but the compliment helped his spirits all the same.

"Look, not that this isn't sickeningly sweet and all," said Aris, drawing the focus to himself, "but I have a few things that need to be said, and then I'll be on my way." Before continuing, he popped open a pill bottle, and proceeded to swallow far more pills than could be considered safe.

"What are those?" asked Mabel.

"This fool has been popping pain killers since before I showed up," Manly Dan scolded.

"That's because migraines suck. It is also impossible for me to OD on ibuprofen," Aris stated in a matter-of-fact manner. "Your run-in with a human sized lizard is alarming. I've never seen a fire bolt lizard longer than a foot. It could just be a fluke, but until that can be confirmed I want you three to stay out of the deep forest. Don't stray too far from civilization."

"What?!" Mabel stood up in protest.

"That's not fair!" yelled Dipper, following his sister's example.

Aris didn't respond right away, letting silence fill the room as he took another pill. "Sit down and let me finish." The twins begrudgingly listened. "Thank you. I'm not upset because of the lizard. That was just bad luck. I'm disappointed in the continued recklessness displayed by all three of you. That goes double for you, Red."

"What the hell did I do?" Wendy tried to stand up again, but Dan stopped her with a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"I told you to stay put, but you didn't listen. So I told you again, and what did you say?"

"I'm tougher than that, which I am," Wendy said.

"You had third degree burns on your _spine_! It's a miracle your legs didn't give out. But you wouldn't listen, so I conceded and told you to go slow. When I called to warn you to stay away from the Shack, that Grandma had lost her marbles, you hung up on me and rushed here."

Wendy looked away, unable to maintain eye contact with her mentor.

"Wendy?" said Dan. "Is this true?"

"I was worried, okay!" she spat. "I-I didn't want anyone to get hurt," Wendy's voice tapered off.

Aris sighed, his expression changing from annoyance to sympathy. "Red, you need to look out for your own well-being and stop worrying about mine. This is the third time you have nearly gotten yourself killed because you would not listen. You are not an invincible god that can take that kind of extreme punishment."

"And you are?"

"No, I guess I'm not," Aris chuckled. "But as you witnessed, I can handle a great deal more than you." Aris emptied his pill bottle before placing it in his jacket pocket. "Unfortunately, I cannot let this continue. I have your casting gloves in my possession. You are forbidden from using magic without my expressed permission and supervision until further notice."

"You can't do that!" This time, Wendy broke free of her father's grasp. She marched towards Aris, but the room began to spin again. She fell forward into his arms.

"Damn it, Wendy," Aris said. With a little effort, he helped her stand up by supporting most of her weight himself. "This is exactly what I'm talking about. We can discuss it later, but not until you rest. Daniel, would you kindly take your daughter upstairs. She needs a nap before you try taking her home."

Manly Dan obliged, carrying Wendy bridle style to Soos and Melody's bedroom. Aris waited for him to return, just to make sure his student was actually listening.

"She's asleep," said Dan as he came down the steps. "Come to my house tomorrow. We need to talk as well." This caught Aris off-guard, as Manly Dan rarely spoke to him unless Wendy was there, too.

"Okay. I can do that." Before Aris could continue, Dan walked off, leaving him alone with the twins standing across the room. "Huh… Moving on, we have Tweedledee and Tweedledum."

"We have names, you know," said Dipper.

"I know," Aris nodded. "Mason and Mable Pines, twin siblings. I could also call you left and right, Thing One and Thing Two, Pine Tree and Stardust, The Persistent and The Spirited."

"Could you get to the point?" asked Mabel.

Aris raised an eyebrow, trying to read the girl's bored face. "Thanks to your recklessness, you are no longer spirited. And that's a problem."

"Not this again."

"I know about the mind spell. Meant to give the subject increased intelligence? Does any of this sound familiar?"

"How do you know about that?" said Dipper, his eyebrows creased down. "We haven't even told Wendy yet."

"Yet? Did you ever plan to tell her? Didn't she promise total honesty with you?"

"Well… Yea, we were… eventually. It was just…" Dipper was suddenly feeling unsure of himself. He had never had his motives questioned like this. He was going to tell her, right? They were best friends.

"It was just… what?" Aris took a step closer to Dipper, intimidating the boy. "You couldn't seem to extend the same courtesy. Are you scared of what she might think, or that she will turn on you?"

"Stop it!" Mabel shouted. "Leave him alone. We didn't tell, because I didn't want to." Aris turned to her, his expression static. Mabel crossed her arms at her stomach, now under the pale man's full scrutiny. "I didn't want you to change me back." She looked down at her feet, feeling ashamed at the words.

"I'm afraid you don't have much say in the matter," said Aris. "Which spell was it?"

Mabel glanced at him before looking away again. "Increased learning and comprehension."

"What language was it written in?"

"Korean. One of my friends is from Korea, so she translated."

"How did you know how to cast the spell?"

"There were instructions. We made the circle with nail polish, and my friends performed the spell."

Aris thought for a moment then nodded. "Ah, yes. Now I remember." He stepped back, giving the twins some breathing room. "You see children; most of the mind spells are untested. The human brain is the most complex machine in the known universe. Altering it in anyway will have consequences. I only used a mind spell once. The results were disturbing so say the least."

"What happened?" asked Dipper, finding his voice again.

"It worked as intended at first, but… it only lasted a few days before he went mad. My friend killed six innocent before I stopped him." Aris gazed into the distance, remembering the horror in startling detail.

"Is that going to happen to me?" Mabel whispered, her eyes starting to become watery.

"I doubt it," Aris smiled. "You have lasted far longer than him already. Though, it would be foolish to deny that there is something wrong with your mind. I'm currently working on a solution. Until then, I need you to stay out of trouble. Both of you." He turned to leave, but the twins had questions.

"What about Wendy?" asked Mabel.

"Don't worry about her. She will recover, and then we can try to sort out our issues. Until then, don't be surprised if she rants about me. Red has been sworn to secrecy about these things until now."

"What's Gateway?" Dipper blurted out.

"Do you honestly expect me to answer that?" Aris gave him an annoyed look. Even Mabel rolled her eyes at him.

"What? It was worth a shot."

The man sighed, shaking his head. "Do you still have that copy of my work journal?"

"Yea."

"Then figure it out. Any other questions from the peanut gallery?"

"Just one," said Mabel. "Are you ever going to use our preferred names?"

"Very rarely," Aris grinned, showing off his fangs. "If there is nothing else, I must get going. And remember that I'm watching you two, so you better behave."

Mabel and Dipper were left alone in the unusually dark room. They both plopped back down on the couch, taking in their conversation with the immortal man. Mabel finally spoke up.

"I'm sorry I didn't listen."

"It's okay," said Dipper. "It's not like I had much evidence to back up my claim."

"You were still right about me."

"Don't worry, sis. I'm sure you will be back to your hyperactive self in no time."

* * *

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* * *

 _Life sucks and we are all going to die._ **YAY!**

Long story short, I was working 60 hour weeks at work, which resulted in me getting in a fight with a my parents, which resulted in me quitting my job. Fun times, am I right? I didn't even touch my computer for three days after that. But I'm back on track, ready to continue the story! **(shit im going to have to find a new job)**

Once again, I ended up rewriting this chapter. Mostly due to being unsatisfied with my writing from when I was stressed. I think it came out alright, but I'm not 100%, so let me know what you think.

All comments and crits are welcomed!


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